


Not Alone

by AngelofGrace96



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Movie Redo, OC's - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-02-12 04:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 26,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2096109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelofGrace96/pseuds/AngelofGrace96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would have happened, following the movie, If Jack's sister, Rose, had fallen into the pond along with Jack. Also on FFN.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Rise of the Guardians, it belongs to Dreamworks. Hope you enjoy!

Jack knew he wasn't going to make it the second he felt the freezing water seize up his legs. He very quickly stopped being able to feel his arms, it was getting harder to move, his lungs screamed for air, and he could barely see through the water.  _But, at the very least, Rose was okay.._

Or at least, she would have been okay if she hadn't lunged forwards, screaming "Jack!" as her dearest big brother crashed through the ice she had been standing on, less an a minute ago. She didn't know why she had reached for him, but it was too late. she threw herself forwards, only barely able to see Jack's body drifting slowly deeper into the water. The ice she was on cracked threateningly.

It was either a useless tragedy or a mercy that she plunged through only seconds later.

**At the very least, Rose was okay** would have been his last thought had his waterlogged ears not heard the muffled sound of ice cracking and a body plunging through the water. He turned his head as much as he could to see his sister emerge from the resulting cloud of bubbles, flailing in the broken ice.

_No._

Rose didn't really know how to swim, but neither did Jack. Even if he did, at this point he couldn't even move, and was already halfway gone. Not that she knew that. She'd never seen anything like this happen before, she hardly knew what drowning was. In her small way, as far as she could tell, if she could somehow propel herself through the water and get to Jack before the pain in their lungs overtook them, everything would be alright. They'd get out, they'd go home, they'd get better. Everything was going to be alright. It had to.

So she worked her screaming muscles as much as she could to get as close to Jack as she could, even as she could see his horrified expression, even as she was slowly losing her ability to move as well,

Even as Jack lost conciousness before she reached him, even as she couldn't even make it to him before her freezing cold body lost as well.

And there they sank.

238,900 miles away, a man watched with great sorrow, pity, and pride. The magic he had would bring them back, surely. What would happen after that? Who knew, but they deserved... not a second chance. There are no second chances. But to continue living in some way, yes,

They deserved that.


	2. Chapter 2

Not Alone

Chapter 2

JPOV

Darkness. That's the first thing I remember. It was dark, and it was cold, and I was scared. But then...then I saw the moon. It was so big and it was so bright, and it seemed to chase the darkness away. And when it did...I wasn't scared anymore. I floated up through the water, the ice parting around me as I rose up into the sky and looked at the moon.

I felt a mental nudge, and I looked around. There was a small girl with shoulder length brown hair, and startlingly blue eyes. I immediately knew, without knowing why, that my name was Jack Frost, her name was Rose Frost, and she was my sister. She seemed to realize this at the same time, because she looked up at me and ran to me, hugging my waist tightly. I bent down and hugged her back. As I stepped back, my foot touched a Staff lying on the ground, and a thrill flew through me. I knew immediately that it was destined for me. As Rose looked on curiously, I picked up the staff, only to nearlt drop it again as I felt a surge of power flow through the staff. The base of the staff touched the ground, and a spurt of frost shot out, coating the ice in delicate designs of frost. Rose giggled, breaking the silence. I started running around, dragging the staff behind me and causing frost to cover the icy pond to the sound of my sister's laughter.

As I swept the staff around, as sudden burst of wind lifted me off my feet and into the air. I yelped, startled and Rose's cry echoed in my ears. As I hovered in the air, I could see the pattern on the ice below me, with Rose at the centre. As I loosened my grip on the staff in my hand, the wind holding me up ceased, and I fell roughly into a tree. As I grabbed a tree branch on the way down, I realised that I could see the lights of a town.

GPOV

As Jack climbed back down the tree, Rose ran up to him as he landed clumsily on the ground. "Are you ok, Jack?"

Jack grinned. "I'm fine, Rosie! But you gotta come with me! There's a village just over that way, maybe we can ask for some help!" Rose grinned enthusiastically. "Sure, Jack, but look at this!" Grinning shyly she pulled out an ice-coated bow with a small, girl-sized quiver to match. Jack realised that the patterns on the bow and the quiver were the same as the patterns on his staff. He grinned as an idea struck him. "Maybe you can fly too!"

Rose looked confused so Jack elaborated. "When I was playing with my staff, it carried me into the air. Since we appear to both have ice powers or something, see if your bow can help you fly, just like my staff!" Rose smiled and tried, swinging the bow uselessly. Eventually she sighed. "I guess not. You can carry me though, right, Jack?" He nodded proudly. "Course, sis! Now, let's go find that town."

Jack and Rose flew less-than-gracefully into the town, finally crashing into a snowdrift. As Jack hopped up, pulling Rose up behind him, they saw several people huddled around a fire. Jack started forwards, smiling brightly, while Rose hid behind his legs shyly.

Jack spoke to the people around him cheerfully. "Hello. Hello. Good evening, ma'am. Ma'am?" He adds as she continues to ignore him. Suddenly he spots a boy running towards him and crouches down to talk to him. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" The boy ran straight through Jack, through Rose, who was right behind Jack, and out through the other side, not even noticing them.

Jack gasps, and Rose starts to cry. Jack picks her up and hugs her tightly, as if needing assurance that he can touch someone, someone will not run through him. He walks away, carrying his sister, and looks back only once. The people are moving inside their homes, getting away from the light snowfall that had started. Jack concentrated and the snow stopped. He shook his head ruefully and kept walking away from the town who had already forgotten him and his sister, the Bringers of Winter.

Far away the man sighs and shakes his head, and a tear falls from his eye. It is so hard to leave them alone, but the other spirits will seek them out, and at least the boy is not alone. He nods. He is not alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Not Alone

Chapter 3

300 Years later

Rose laughed as Jack tried to fly over a lake and land next to her gracefully. Operative word being tried. Once he touched down, his feet slipped on the ice that hadn't been there a second ago, and with a muffled yell, he slammed into a tree. A sharp crack was heard and Rose winced. "Was that your nose again?" She asked as she made her way over to her brother, who was trying to get his head out of the blue hoodie he had picked up for himself when his colonial clothes practically crumbled to dust. Rose was wearing new clothes as well. To stick with the blue and white theme, she was wearing a sky-blue knee-length dress with white leggings underneath. Both the Frost siblings were barefoot.

As Jack finally got his head out of his hoodie, Rose reached out and touched his nose. A thin coating of frost slowly covered the appendage, and Jack sighed in relief as the swelling magically went down. The siblings had special talents, but the things they had in common was their control of ice magic, their ability to talk telepathically to each other, and their love of playing pranks. Jack could fly, and he could make other people happy or exited with one of his special snowballs or snowflakes. Rose could heal using her ice, although since Jack and Rose had never been able to heal any other spirits beside themselves, they had no idea if it would work on a non-winter spirit, and she could calm people down, although she was too shy to use it on anyone besides Jack before.

Jack nodded at his sister. "Thanks, sis. Next time watch where you put the ice, eh?" Rose giggled and hugged her big brother. That was one of the things she most loved about Jack. He never told her off for playing pranks, he just told her how they could be better. The two heard shouting from their recent favorite human, Jamie Bennett, and with a nod at Rose, Jack took off, with her on his back. They arrived in Jamie's backyard in time to hear one of his friends say in a superior tone, "That's what you said about aliens."

"And the Easter Bunny." His twin adds. Jamie turns around defensively, holding his sled. "Guys, the Easter Bunny is real." Jack rolls his eyes. "Oh he's real alright." He advises the unaware audience. "Real annoying, real grumpy, and really full of himself." Rose laughed at her brother. he held some bizarre grudge against the Easter Bunny for not liking the snowstorm they created on Easter Sunday. The Rabbit had gone berserk, screaming about his precious 'googies' and declaring he'd get them back. He had even tried to grab Rose, which was probably the cause of Jack's grudge. He was the most over-protective big brother in history, in Rose's opinion. She didn't mind though. Rose looked up as a little girl with blond hair, wearing fairy wings, Jumped down the steps. "Easter Bunny, Hop, hop, hop!" She giggled.

Suddenly she tripped and fell on the last step. "Ow!" She began to cry. "Mum, Sophie fell again!" Jamie called, Not even looking up. Rose felt a flash of anger. Did this boy not even care about his sister at all? The mother came over to the little girl and picked her up, as the greyhound nuzzled her face. "You okay, Soph?" She asked, Before spinning around and plonking a fur hat on Jamie's head. "Jamie, hat? We don't want Jack and Rose Frost nipping at your nose!"

Rose and Jack grinned, and hi-fived each other. Long ago, Jack and Rose had saved a spirit's home, and in return, Jack had asked that the spirit spread the word within the humans that could see him, and tell the legend of Jack and Rose Frost, the Spirits of Winter. The spirit in question was a shy girl called Lily, and she was one of the Spirits of Fall. Both the Frost siblings were good friends with her, and many others. Despite their disbelief in the human world, the two were well liked in the spirit community. Their grins where short lived however, as Jamie's innocent question of "Who's that?" prompted the mother to reply "No one, honey. It's just an expression." Rose's eyes filled with tears, and Jack looked mad. "Hey!" he snapped at the mother.

Jack hoisted Rose up onto his back at leaped down to where the three boys were walking through a field of snow. Two children were standing nearby. Jack threw a mischievous smile at Rose before scraping up some snow and forming a snowball. "No one, huh? We'll show you, won't we, Rosie?" She nodded, before creating her own snowball. Jack blew on his, and some sparkles floated off it. Rose grinned in excitement. Jack had the power to create happy feelings in other people, and it often came in handy for pranks and starting snowball fights, like right now, she reminded herself.

With a wink, he threw the snowball right into the back of Jamie's head, causing him to stumble slightly. Rose would scold Jack for that later, but right now she would just enjoy the fun. Jamie spun around, Jack's magical sparkles playing before his eyes, as he started to laugh, before demanding, "Okay, who threw that?"

Rose, remembering the book Jamie was holding, called out, "Well, it wasn't Bigfoot Jamie." Jamie looked around and saw the other kids on the field, but before he could do anything, a snowball from Rose hits Monty, the boy, and a magical snowball hits Pippa, the tall girl with pigtails. She starts to laugh. "Jamie Bennett, no fair!" She accuses him. Grinning, he shoots back "You struck first!" before a snowball from Rose hits Claude, one of the twins, in the side of the head. His twin laughs. Jack and Rose look at each other and call "Free-for-All!" simultaneously, and war breaks out!

There are snowballs flying everywhere, and Jack and Rose are creating snowballs and giving them to the kids, before hurling and receiving with the best of them. as the fun continues, Jamie backs up before tripping over a snowman, and a snowball meant for him flying over his head and smacking Cupcake, a burly girl, in the back of the head. All the kids back away. Pippa squeaks "Crud, I hit Cupcake!"

As the other kids question her, Jack whispered his plan to Rose, who grined and gives him the thumbs up. Just as Cupcake is about to squash Jamie under a giant snowman head, Jack's snowball smacks her right between the eyes, and a chuckle forced its way out of her mouth as Jack's magic did it's work. Soon enough she is laughing away with the rest of the kids as she chases them down a hill. Jack winks at Rose, and she nods. She knows what to do. Suddenly Jack takes off, and with well-practiced movements, Rose shoots ice under the kids' feet , at the same time as Jack hook's Jamie's sled, before grabbing her and leading Jamie on a fantastic chase through the streets until he hits a statue, and a sofa hits him. Jack winces. "Oops?" He offers lamely. As the kids wander off chattering about the Tooth Fairy, Jack jumps in front of them. Rose is equally upset. He snaps at the unaware children, "Ah, wait a minute! Come on, hold on, hold on! What about all that fun we just had? That wasn't the Tooth Fairy, that was us!"

Jamie doesn't hear the Winter Spirits' cry, and walks right through the both of them. Rose sniffles, and Jack bends down to give her a hug. Without a glance back, the two fly away, leaving the group of children behind them. Jack decides to take his sister's mind off the walk-through, and asks cheerfully, "Wanna practice some Archery this afternoon, Sis?" Her resultant cheer of "Yeah!" Made him smile, and they head back to their home, Burgess Lake.


	4. Chapter 4

Not Alone

Chapter 4

Jack and Rose hovered on the edge of rooftop, watching Jamie play with his sister, and tell her stories of his sled ride and his missing tooth. As Rose looked on, she decided that Jamie wasn't such a bad brother. Nothing on hers, of course, but then, she doubted that any brother alive could be as caring and over-protective as Jack.

Suddenly, Rose slipped and fell off the roof with a muffled shriek that neither of the children inside heard, and landed in a pile of snow. Chuckling, Jack reached down and pulled her up with the hook of his staff. Rose tried to look through the window again as she was lifted up, but it had frosted over from the ice spirit's breath. She frowned. That was the problem with ice spirits. Everything they touched froze over, including their clothes and weapons. Jack's hoodie that he wore was covered in frost designs, especially the edges, and so was Rose's dress. Jack's staff was also covered in frost patterns, as were Rose's bow, but her arrows were really special. There were no feathers on the ends of her arrows. When she wanted to shoot one, ice sprouted at the end of her arrow, creating ice fletchings that would guide her arrows with unerring aim. It was also easier to store them, because she didn't have to worry about bending or breaking the feathers.

Jack gave one final pull, and she rolled onto the roof. By unspoken signal, they walked away from the house, before, for no particular reason, they began to run, jumping recklessly across rooftops and buildings. Rose had no fear, because she knew her brother would never let her fall. Soon the race ended, and the Frost siblings wandered across the phone lines, Rose dragging her bow along the lines to freeze them, Jack simply tapping them with his staff.

Rose looked up at the Moon shone out from behind a cloud. "If there's something we're doing wrong, please, tell me what it is?" She whispered softly. Jack walked over and gave her a hug. He looks up himself and says, "We've tried everything, and no one ever sees us." Rose sniffled and turned away, while Jack glared at the moon, feeling slightly defeated.

Jack turned around and saw a stream of dreamsand fly over his head, while another curled around the two spirits. Nudging his sister, Jack whispered in her ear, "Hey Rosie, the Sandman's here."

She looked up and grined in delight when she recognized the golden streams. The Sandman was the only spirit who was remotely nice to them. They didn't see him much, obviously, but he'd always send them good dreams, and he sent his sand streams to say hello whenever he could. The siblings reach out and touch the stream, and two animals burst out. Jack's was a dolphin, and Rose's was a fox. The two animals circled the kids for a minute, before melding back into the dreamsand. Feeling refreshed, the winter spirits looked at each other. Suddenly, a black shadow rushed past Jack, causing Rose to scream. "What was that?" She asked.

Jack shrugged. "I dunno, sis. Wanna find out?" She nodded, the sparkle of adventure appearing in her eye. As one, the two gave chase. The mysterious shadow nearly lost them a couple of times, but they followed it stubbornly, until they landed in an alleyway, having lost the shadow. Jack looked around cautiously, before a sudden voice made him freeze. "'Ello, mate."

Jack spun around, and was faced with the Easter Bunny, standing in a space he obviously wasn't in a moment ago. Rose squeaked and hid behind Jack's leg, but she was not as frightened as she seemed. Buuny barely looked at her, his attention was on Jack. It was probably wise, as Jack looked like he was about to attack Bunny without a moments notice.

Bunny continued, trying to ignore Jack pointing a stick in his face, "Been a long time. Blizzard of 68, I believe? Easter Sunday, wasn't it?" Jack nodded, before relaxing somewhat and leaning on his staff. Rose knew her brother too well for that, and could tell that he was ready to attack if he needed to. "Bunny," He drawled, trying to look surprised. "You're not still mad about that...are yah?" Bunny glowered. "Yes." he snapped.

Rose giggled, creating a snowball behind Jack's back. She knew he'd love it if he could throw a snowball in the Easter Bunny's face, and he couldn't do it right now, so she was doing it for him. Jack could tell perfectly well what she was doing, and smiled slightly at her. Totally unaware of the sibling's interaction, Bunny continued, looking at his boomerang. "But, this is about something else. Fellas!" He calls, and suddenly, Rose and Jack were yanked up, by two massive Yeti's.

Jack yelled, "Hey! Put me down!" and Rose threw the snowball she was holding into Bunny's face. His expression is priceless, but before they know it, the two winter spirits are shoved into a sack, and Jack was writhing around, yelling, "Where's my staff? Give it back!" Rose was no better, looking for her bow.

Before they could do anything besides struggle however, They felt the tingle and rush of a portal (Rose and Jack had stolen a few to escape the scene of a crime before, so they knew what one felt like), and Jack knew it was too late.


	5. Chapter 5

Not Alone

Chapter 5

"Argh!" Jack and Rose yelled as they tumbled around inside the sack. Riding portals was alright if you were in control of your body, but being shoved into a sack and pushed through was completely disorientating.

After what felt like forever, the ride ended and the sack thudded onto the ground. Jack huffed as his sister landed on his chest, and elbowed him in the stomach. Accidentally treading on his face, she climbed out and stood up, followed by Jack. the two saw their weapons in the hands of the yetis and snatched them, none to gently, out of their furry paws. Jack then turned around, saw where they were, and muttered "Whoa" under his breath.

Rose did a lot more. "OH MY GOD!" She squealed. "WE'RE IN SANTA CLAUS' WORKSHOP! OH MY GOD!"

Gingerly checking that his eardrums had not ruptured, Jack reflected wryly that it was times like this when he realized that 300 years had had almost no effect on his sister's mentality, and she was, for all intents and purposes, an 8-year-old girl, just as she had been when she had been changed. She was wise for her age, and she knew a lot, but she acted like a child a large majority of the time.

Jack heard a noise behind him, and spun around. Behind him was a large man in a red coat, with white hair and beard, and black eyebrows. Jack and Rose had never met him, but they knew of him. His name was North, aka Santa Claus. He was accompanied by Bunny, who rolled his eyes at them before ignoring them completely, a blue-and-green bird lady who looked like she was part hummingbird and surrounded by tiny flecks of colour Rose realized were mini-fairies. She was randomly blurting out teeth and addresses to the fairies, so Rose and Jack guessed she was the Tooth Fairy. Finally, a familiar figure to the children was the snoozing form of the Sandman."Sandy!" Squealed Rose again, and raced over, thudding into his surprisingly solid frame and hugging tightly.

Woken up by the girl crashing into him, Sandy's expression had Jack doubled over in laughter, before he mentally reminded Rose that even immortal Guardians need to breathe. She blushed slightly, and let go as if burned, before turning and running to hide behind Jack. The Guardians looked at her behavior in puzzlement, before turning to talk to Jack. He beat them too it, however.

"We" he gestured to Rose and himself, "musta done something really bad to get you four together." He absently froze the two elves in the room solid before turning and grinning mischievously. "Are we on the naughty list?"

Rose butted in sadly, asking pitifully, "Is that why we never got any presents, neither?" Jack turned around, crouching down to talk to her. "I gave you presents, Rosie." He sounded hurt. "Didn't they count?"

Her eyes widened and she flew at him, hugging him tightly, exclaiming, "Of course they did! I love your presents! It's just, just that, aren't kids 'posed to get presents from Santa too? And we knows he's real too, so why didn't we get any?"

North stepped forwards, looking embarrassed. "I am sorry, little one, but most spirits have a designated home, or area that they spend time in regularly. Because you and your brother are nomads, we could not get your presents to you. but, from now on, we can!"

Jack turned to North suspiciously. "How come now?"

Bunny nodded, muttering, "Ah, good question." To North. North ignores him and opens his arms wide. "How come? I tell you how come! Because now...you are Guardians!"

Jack and Rose look at each other in horror. Guardians! They couldn't be Guardians! The two had often mocked the three Guardians they didn't know for their empires, their helpers, and their isolated lives. But to be one of them? No Way! Rose thought an idea to her brother, and he mentally nodded. As one they raised they weapons, and blasted a wave of ice and wind across the room. What nobody knew, except the two themselves, was that, while they were exceptionally powerful by themselves, they were almost unbeatable when they worked in unison, which was almost always, except when they had to split up to cover a large country, but that didn't happen much. So the entire room was covered in a light layer of ice, including the living beings. For North and the yetis, it wasn't a problem, but for Tooth and the elves, Jack had to unfreeze them.

Once he was done, he glared at the Guardians, his voice echoing in the large room. "What makes you think we wanna be Guardians?"

"Yeah!" Rose butted in. "I mean, it is kinda stupid. I mean, you're all just sitting in your little domains basically bribing these kids to believe in you while Jack and I work hard each and every day to make sure the children are having fun. What do we get? 300 years of being ignored, 300 years of being told 'they're just a myth', 300 years of being walked though! I bet none of you have ever even been walked through in your entire cushy immortal lives!" By now she was practically screaming, and at the end she turned to Jack and burst into tears.

"Shush, Rosie, you did great. It's ok." Jack whispered to her. "It's the truth, I bet no-one ever told them the truth before, that's it. Why did you pick us?" He asked North, who seemed to be spokesperson for the group. North frowned. "Pick? You think we pick? No, you were chosen, like we were all chosen. By Man in Moon." Rose squeaked slightly, and Jack stared, dumbstruck. Tooth flew forwards. "Last night, Jack. He chose you both."

Rose thought at Jack and he nodded thoughtfully. "The Man in the Moon, he talks to you?" He asked carefully. He received no answer, but as he looked up, a skylight was revealed in the roof, the Moon sitting in view. Jack was still slightly confused. "But why wouldn't he tell us this himself?"

Rose sighed, and thought at Jack, I think it's time to go, big brother. Bunny obviously doesn't want us here, and Tooth is to busy drooling over you and your teeth to provided an unbiased decision. Can we go? Jack nodded, and turned to leave. Bunny made a big show of being relieved.

"You know what I think? I think we just dodged a bullet. I mean, what do these kids know about bringing joy to children anyway?" Jack stopped, and Rose groaned silently. Jack was known for never backing down from a challenge, and this time was no exception. Jack spun around.

"Uhh, you ever hear of a snow day? I know it's no hard-boiled egg, but kids like what we do." He glared warningly at Bunny. If that Rabbit made one crack about being walked through... Rose was so touchy about it, and Jack hated it when his sister was upset.

Bunny leaned in, purposely ignoring Rose. "But none of 'em believe in you, do they? You see, you're invisible, mate. It's like you don't even exist." Jack flinched back, trying hard to pretend that it didn't hurt him. Tooth reared back, shocked. "Bunny!" She retorted.

Rose sniffled. She hated it when Jack got all defensive, because he tended to say hurtful things, and that never ended up alright. Sure enough, Jack already had a retort ready. "No, the Kangaroo's right." He waved off Tooth's worry. Bunny sat up straight. "The, the what - what'd you call me? I am not a kangaroo, mate."

Jack glared viciously back at him, letting his hate at the Pooka for hurting his sister come to the surface. "Oh. And this whole time I thought you were. If you're not a kangaroo, what are you?"

Bunny leans in really close and almost spat in Jack's face, "I'm a bunny. The Easter Bunny. People believe in me." Jack was definitely hurt by this one, and without a word he picks up his sister and prepares to leave. Before they can take off, however, North stepped forwards.

"Jack, Rose, walk with me?" He asked.

Setting Rose down, Jack regarded the toymaker suspiciously, but nodded his head. He doubted that the man would attack them, but one could never be too careful.

As they wandered through the Workshop, Jack yelled over to North, "Hey, slow down, would ya? We've been trying to bust in here for years, we want a good look around, especially Rose." True to his word, the 8-year-old was staring around at everything in sight, completely captivated by the entire scene. North looks slightly ticked off. "What do you mean, 'bust in'?"

Jack waved airily. "Don't worry, we never got past the yetis." Before waving at the two yetis behind them. Jack called out "Hey Phil!" While Rose cheerfully yelled out, "Hiya, Annie!"

North, no longer listening, yells behind them, "Keep up you two!" and the two siblings, laughing, dash to catch up. As they look around, they notice that dozens of yetis are building toys from dozens of ice sculptures. Jack leans in to North and half whispered, "I thought the elves made the toys?"

Grinning, North whispered back, "We just let them believe that." before grinning at a couple of elves who were electrocuting the elf covered in Christmas lights, and calling out, "Very nice! Keep up good work!"

One poor yeti they passed had just finished painting a mountain of robots blue when North yelled at him, "I don't like it. Paint it red!" The yeti did such a large facepalm that almost knocked the robot off the table.

Finally they get to the workshop, and once they walked inside, Jack and Rose's mouths dropped open. North chuckled at their reaction. He had considered being threatening to get the information he wanted, but one look at the over-protective way that Jack treated his sister made him reconsider. So he sat the two children down and asked them, "What is your center? Do you know?"

Two negative head shakes answered him, so he began to explain. "Your center is something very special inside. If MiM chose you two to be guardians, you must be very special indeed." Seeing that they didn't understand, he pulled a Russian doll off the shelf, and showing it to the children, they realized that it was of himself. He said, "Here. This is how you see me, no? Very big, intimidating. But if you get to know me a little-"

North opened the doll, and inside it was a smaller one that was grinning. "You are downright jolly?" Jack guessed randomly. Rose giggled, liking this game. North nodded. "But not just jolly.." He added, opening another doll, and another, as he goes through them.

"I am also mysterious, and fearless, and caring. And at my center..." He tips a small wooden figure into Rose's hands, and Jack leans over to see that it is a baby, wrapped in a red blanket, with huge, wide blue eyes. Jack looks up at North, confused. "There's a tiny wooden baby?" North nudged him forwards again. "Look closer, what do you see?"

Before Jack can answer, Rose pipes up. "I know! You have big eyes, right?" North grins. "Yes! Big eyes. Very big. Because they are full! Of wonder! That is my center. It is what I was born with. Eyes that have always seen the wonder in everything!" As he speaks, the ice sculptures littering the room light up and begin to become alive. Jack and Rose watch fascinated as North lead them outside, and they watch the whole workshop light up. He continues speaking. "Eyes that see lights in the trees, and magic in the air! This wonder is what I put into the world, and what I protect in children. It is what makes me a Guardian. It is my center. What are yours?"

Jack winked at Rose, and she nodded approvingly. In unison, they turned to North and said, "No idea." Rose, giggled, enjoying the gobsmacked look on North's face. Before he could say anything however, A dark shape whizzed past the window, causing Rose to jump slightly, and Bunny hopped into the room, his face grave.

"We have a problem, mate! Trouble at the Tooth Palace."


	6. Chapter 6

Not Alone

Chapter 6

North, Bunny, Jack and Rose raced along the corridors to the stables, Jack complaining all the way. As they burst through the doors, Jack tried again. "Look, I told you guys! I am not going in some rickety old..."

He stuttered to a stop, staring at the complete opposite of a rickety old sleigh. It's wood was polished lovingly, the high-tech gadgets were shinishg brightly, and it looked powerful. Rose nearly fell over laughing at the look on his face. it was a cross between stunned amazment and childish glee.

"Sleigh?" she helped him, giggling at the glare he threw her, until he chuckled too, before swinging her up onto his back, and turning to North. "Alright. One ride, that's it."

North laughed too, as he, Sandy and the kids climbed into the sleigh. "Everyone loves the sleigh." He chortled to himself before noticing that Bunny was still on the outside on the sleigh. "Bunny, what are you doing? Get in."

Bunny cautiously leaned back and poked the sleigh with one furry foot. "Uh, I think my tunnels'd be faster, mate. And um, safer." He told North plaintively. North scoffed. "Ach, Get in!" He growled, grabbing the Pooka and hoisting him onboard, tossing, "buckle up!" Over his shoulder.

Bunny scrabbled around frantically. "Whoa, where are the bloody seat-belts?"

The Russian laughed. "Ha! That was just expression. Are we ready?" He asked a nearby Yeti, who immediately made urgent 'no' motions, which North ignored, roaring, "Let's go!"

Bunny gripped the handrails, his claws making big gouges in the wood. Rose and Jack started laughing at the ridiculous sight, and couldn't stop. As they were going through the tunnels, North shouted something, but Jack and Rose couldn't hear him over the noise of the sleigh. Sandy made an excited noise and threw his hands into the air, a silly grin on his face as they shot off the landing ramp and into the air, Bunny's yells of fear mixing with Jack and Rose's cheers of excitement.

As they steadied, Jack had an idea. Keeping his face blank, he thought to Rose, Hey Rosie, wanna se me freak out cotton-tail over there? Rose's eyes brightened, and her cheerful voice filled his head, eager for another prank. Whatcha gonna do, Jack? Tell me! She demanded excitedly. Jack shook his head slightly, miniscule movements. Nu-uh, that'd be telling. Just watch the master at work. She rolled her eyes at him but aquieced, waiting to see. She didn't have to wait long.

Jack casually hopped up onto the back of the sleigh, looking back over the retreating Santoff Clausen. "Hey Bunny, check out this- AARGH!"

"JACK!" Rose yelled, trying to hide her giggles. Bunny freaked, just like Jack promised, leaning over the edge, muttering, "North! He..haa...waa." To see... Jack, lounging casually on the sleigh's rail, and smirking at him. "Aw. You do care." He cooed sarcastically. Bunny growled.

"Ah, rack off, ya bloody show-pony!" He grumbled. "And you too, Shelia!" He snapped as he saw Rose trying to stiffle her giggles behind him. "I have half a mind to toss you off the sleigh-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Jack was right in Bunny's face now, standing protectively in front of Rose. "She can't fly, and if you even think it, I'll pitch you off myself! Are we clear?"

Bunny nodded slowly, actually scared of the winter spirit they had kidnapped. He pittied anyone who actually wanted to hurt the ice girl, he was sure that Jack would defend her with his dying breath. Rose who had jumped back onto Jack's back didn't hurt the image either.

North, who had not heard the kerfuffle in the back, yelled back, "Hey, I know a short cut!" Bunny simply groaned, muttering under his breath, 'Strewth, I knew we should've talken the tunnels!"

North ignored him and whispered "I say... Tooth Palace." into the snowglobe, which he then smashed in midair before flying through.

They arrived in a world of chaos. Pitch's nightmares were flying everywhere, snapping at tiny blue blurs. Jack looked closer and gasped. "They're eating the tooth fairies!" he called out.

Suddenly, one nightmare raced directly overhead, chasing one tiny fairy. Acting on instinct, Jack leapt high into the air, grasping the tiny fairy and falling back onto the sleigh. He opened his hand to see the shivering fairy. He handed her to Rose, who asked the little fairy, "Are you okay, little baby tooth?"

She nodded shakily, and Rose tucked her into a pocket to protect her as another nightmare flew past, almost crashing into the sleigh. Quick as a shot, Rose pulled out her bow, and shot the nightmare, making it dissapate into black sand that Sandy blocked with an umbrella. Bunny looked at Rose curiously for a second, but noticed the teeth containers on the floor of the sleigh, and he forgot what he was going to say. Instead he shouted to North; "They're taking the teeth!"

North suddenly thrust the sleigh reins at Jack, taking him by surprise. "Jack! Take over!" Jack stared. "What?" North thrust the reins at him, and Jack grabbed them, and cracked them experamentally. "Hyah!"

Suddenly North grabbed the reins from Jack. "Look out!" He pulled on the reins, causing them to barely miss a coulum and crash onto a platform. They all climbed out shakily to see a distraught Tooth fluttering around a spire. "They're gone, all of them are gone!" She wailed.

The tooth fairy Jack had rescued, dubbed Baby Tooth by Rose, fluttered out of the pocket of her dress, and flew over to Tooth, who held her tenderly. "Oh, thank goodness. One of you is safe."

Abruptly, a voice echoed throughout the room, causing Rose to squeak in fright, and Jack and the Guardians to look around. "I must say, this is very, very, exciting."

Pitch appeared on the platfrom on the spire, causing Tooth and Bunny to snarl at him, while Rose hid behing Jack. "The Big Four; all in one place. Did you like my show on the globe, North? Got you all together, didn't I?"

North cursed, and Jack deflected a questioning thought from Rose with a mental shrug of his own. Don't know. Without warning, Tooth launched herself upwards, swooping towards Pitch. "Pitch! You have 30 SECONDS to return my fairies-"

"Or what?" Pitch interupted mockingly, vanishing into the shadows, and reapearing onto a different spire. "You'll stick a quarter under my pillow?" North frowned. "Why are you doing this?" He asked. Pitch snarled. "Maybe I want what you have. To be believed in!"

Rose gasped, and Jack's eyes widened. You mean, he can't be seen either? Like us Jack! He nodded somberly. Yeah, but don't forget that he's trying to kill us all and take over the world, Rosie. She nodded slightly, her excitement dimming. Their attention was drawn suddenly when they heard their names.

"Hang on... is that... Jack and Rose Frost? Since when are you all so chummy?" Jack nodded, and he and Rose spoke in unison, trying to spook the King of Nightmares. "We're not."

"Oh good." Pitch's voice had moved position again, and Jack had to spin around to see where he'd gone. "A neutral party. Well, I'm going to ignore you two. But, I suppose you must be used to that, aren't you?"

Jack hissed under his breath and Rose glared, but Pitch turned away and was immediately confronted with a 6.1 foot Pooka, brandishing an egg bomb. :Pitch, you shadow sneaking ratbag! Come here!"

Pitch ducked the bomb, but Tooth had grabbed one of Bunny's boomerangs, and she charged at Pitch, who simply smiled at her. As she reached him, a huge Nightmare bursts out of the shadows, making Tooth fall back. Pitch runs his hands over the nightmare's mane, holding out a piece of black sand to Sandy. "Look familiar, Sandman? It took a while, but now I've perfected the practice, turning Dreams, into Nightmares."

Sandy scowled, and looked down, while Pitch laughed at the Guardians. "Don't be scared, it just encourages them." Bunny scoffed. "Scared of you? Mate, no-one's been scared of you since the dark ages!"

Pitch sighed happily, but Jack and Rose were having a discussion, and had stopped listening. Rose said, very seriously, Jack, I think we should help them.Jack blinked. What, the Guardians? Rose, you know how badly they treated us!" She nodded, her chin on his shoulder. Yeah, but still, I don't think they can handle Pitch by themselves, and I kinda like Tooth. Jack snorted, You would. She rolled her eyes at him. Shut Up! But seriously, please, just give them a chance? He scowled, but aquiesed. Fine, but only for you, Rosie.

Suddenly Tooth gasped in shock as the paint flaked off a nearby pillar, and the top started to disintergrate like Sandy's sand. Pitch smiled."Oh look, it's happening already." "What is?" Jack and Rose asked in unison, enjoying the flinches Pitch wasn't quite able to hide. He shook it off however, and told Jack and Rose "Children are waking up and realizing that the Tooth Fairy didn't come. It's such a small thing, but to a child.."

Rose leaned over, nearly toppling Jack over, and whispered in Tooth's ear. "What's going on, Tooth?" Tooth shook her head slightly. "The children... They don't believe in me anymore..."

Pitch stood on a pillar, crowing to the world. "Didn't they tell you, Jack, Rose? It's great being a Guardian - but there's a catch. If enough kids stop believing, everything your friends protect - wonder, hopes and dreams - it all goes away. And little by little, so do they. No Christmas, or Easter, or little fairies that come in the night. There will be nothing but fear and darkness and me."

Rose had heard enough. She pulled out her bow, and, combined with Bunny's boomerang attack, caused Pitch to not avoid her arrow, and it stuck in his shoulder, very painfully. He cursed and Jumped off the platform, and Jack, after high-fiving his sister, followed the Guardians off it, chasing Pitch down into the depths.


	7. Chapter 7

Not Alone

Chapter 7

The six spirits hurtled through the air, following Pitch on his Nightmare. Bunny threw some egg-bombs at him, but Pitch ducked them and slipped into a crack in the rocks, the others quickly followed. They arrived in a small glade to see they were alone; Pitch was nowhere to be seen.

"He's gone!" North cursed. Jack looked around for himself, but there was no sign of the Nightmare King.

Rose slipped off Jack's back and ran across the water to look at the mural painted there, ice appearing under her feet as they touched the water. Tooth glanced up. What Rose had just done was a very subtle show of power and she doubted that either Bunny or North would have noticed it for what it was. Tooth had been carefully watching the siblings since they arrived in Santoff Clausen. There were little signs, the way they seemed to know what the other was thinking, Jack's reaction to Bunny's joke of tossing Rose off the side of the sleigh, the guarded look in their eyes, the way they kept their weapons within reach at all times, yes, Tooth had noticed the signs, and she would watch out for the children. They looked like they needed a mother.

"Hey, you ok?" Jack's voice came from above her. When she looked up, he sat down cross-legged next to her. "I'm sorry about the fairies." He told her.

She smiled at him, cradling one of the abandoned tooth boxes in her hand. "You should have seen them, they put up such a fight."

Jack grinned, before a thought crossed his mind. "But why would Pitch take the teeth?"

Tooth looked at him silently before rising up and drifting across the water to stand in front of the mural that Rose was staring adoringly at. Jack grabbed Rose's hand in his own as Tooth explained. "It's not just the teeth they want. It's the memories they hold. See, children's teeth hold the most important memories of childhood. Me and my fairies guard the teeth, and when someone needs to remember something special, we help them."

She stared wistfully at the mural. Jack was about to turn away, bored, when Tooth's next words stopped him in his tracks. "We hade everyone's here, you know. Yours too."

Rose spun around. "You had our memories! Why didn't you tell us?" She almost shouted at Tooth, who looked a bit flustered, but also a tiny bit smug. Yup. She thought. Those two will shock the spirit world-if they haven't already. With a start, she got pulled back into the conversation at hand, and told Rose, "Sweetie, if I had any idea that you two didn't have your memories, I would have given them back at once, of course. It is my job. But I had no idea, and now they're stolen by Pitch."

Jack leapt into the air and spun around, landing on a rock next to Bunny. "Then we'll get them back, right sis?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah! We gonna kick his arse real good!" Rose yelled, running around kicking imaginary Pitches. The guardians, sans Sandy, who was used to the hyperactive little girl, started at Rose in shock. Jack chuckled to Rose mentally. They think you're crazy, you know. He told her. She shrugged. Well, it's their own fault for holing up in their own little worlds for half a century.

Suddenly, Tooth gasped and a few of her feathers fell out. "It's too late!" She gasped, looking at the mural that seemed to be... unravelling. Jack turned. "Why? What's going on?" Tooth looked at him, then at her dissolving feathers. "The children... they don't believe in me anymore." Tooth said sadly. "We're too late."

"NO!" North yelled, making Jack and Rose jump. "No such thing as too late!"

Rose and Jack looked at North pacing around like a madman, before almost busting out laughing at the look on Bunny's face when North nearly decapitated him. "IDEA!" We will collect the teeth!"

Jack and Rose blinked. Tooth echoed their thoughts. "What?" She gasped. North decided to actually explain his idea. "We collect the teeth, children keep believing, in you!"

Tooth started to grin, and let out a little half-laugh. "Are you serious? There's seven continents, millions of kids-" North cut her off.

"Give me break! Do you know how many presents I deliver in one night?"

"And eggs I hide, in one day?" Bunny butted in with a stupid look on his face that Rose started laughing at.

"And you two." North turned around to face Jack and Rose. "If you help us, we will make sure you get your memories back. Deal?"

It took all they years of practice Rose and Jack had not to let their indignation show on their faces. That's blackmail! Why those sneaky, rotten little- Rose ranted, but Jack butted in suddenly. Wait, Rosie. Look at Tooth. She did and gave a little gasp. She's hiding it! Just like us! Jack nodded. I think she'll be on our side. Rose grinned. Still, those two scumbags, holding the most precious thing to us we could possibly have as a ransom! I have half a mind to tell Krystal and Lily about this! Jack shook his head. Rose, they're the bloody Guardians! What could a winter spirit and a spring spirit do against them? She scowled. I dunno, but I still wanna tell them. Jack nodded. We'll visit them later, Kay? Rose grinned. Okay, fine by me!

Jack turned back to the Guardians, who had not noticed a thing. "We're in." He announced, but added to himself, Here we come, Krystal!


	8. Chapter 8

Not Alone

Chapter 8

Rose had to admit, racing around houses like this was extremely fun, even though it was with the Guardians. Even though she was and forever would be a little girl, Rose had acquired a keen sense of when someone was being dishonest or shifty, and she could tell that the Guardians as a whole wanted nothing to do with her or Jack, and they would happily leave them behind as soon as this business with Pitch was done. The only possible exception to this fact would be Sandy, who had been one of the first spirits they had met in this world, and he had always tired to give them a hand.

Jack saw her heavy mood from her place on her back and decided to lighten it by 'slipping off' the edge of the roof they were running along. It was lucky Bunny wasn't nearby, Jack mused as Rose's peals of laughter filled the air, he would've had a heart attack. Rose squealed right into Jack's ear as they almost, but not quite, hit the ground, and he grinned. Mission successful. As they flew off to find another tooth, they Saw Tooth flying in circles.

"Over here, no there, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" She cries, smacking into a billboard selling Japanese toothpaste. Rose perched on the top of the billboard while Jack flew around aimlessly, and she stared down at the hummingbird lady in concern. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine sweetie." Tooth shook her head. "It's just, I haven't been out in the field in a long time."

"How long is a long time?" Jack and Rose chorused, enjoying the flash of confusion that crossed Tooth's face. She shook it off and answered meekly, "Four hundred and forty years, give or take."

"Wow." Rose breathed, astonished. "That's more than we've been rebor- I mean Spirits!"

Tooth stared at her with narrowed eyes. Her suspicions were being confirmed, one by one. Then she smiled. "It sure is! How long have you guys been around?"

Jack stared at her slightly suspiciously, but Rose could tell she was being honestly curious, so she answered, "Three hundred years, give or take."

Tooth was about to say something, but she spotted a tooth under a pillow nearby. "OOH!" She squealed, dashing off. Rose looked at Jack, but he shrugged his shoulders, before grabbing Rose unexpectedly off the billboard, causing her to squeal, and soaring off to find another tooth.

Several hours later, Jack and Rose were passing over South America, when Rose saw a sparkle in the air. She watched it, and saw some snowflakes falling from a cloud. She gave a loud squeal. "Krystal! Hey, Krystal!"

A brunette head stuck out of the cloud, quickly followed by a teenage girl a few years older than Jack. She grinned brilliantly at the two 'Spirits of Winter' and beckoned them over to the mountain behind her. Krystal was well known and believed in, especially in the Southern Hemisphere where she worked, so she had to be careful about being seen all the time. That was why she worked inside clouds, making it look like the flakes were falling naturally when in fact they were falling from Krystal's conduit, a razor-sharp dagger with the blade made of ice.

Once the three winter spirits were comfortably seated in Krystal's cave, the questionnaire started. "What have you guys been doing? Why are you even down here?" Krystal asked her sort-of superiors. "You're not exactly needed down here you know, what with it being summer and all." Rose giggled. No matter how many times she heard it, Krystal's slight Australian accent always served to amuse her. Krystal rolled her eyes at the younger girl, before turning to Jack. "Has Boron the Moron been behaving himself lately?"

Jack grinned, while Rose rolled her eyes at the thought of the incompetent winter spirit assigned to the Northern Hemisphere. Krystal, of course, was assigned to the Southern Hemisphere. "Yup! He was strutting around like a peacock, so we spoke to Lily. She helped us melt his ice a bit, and once he kept tripping over holes in 'his ice'" Jack made quotation marks around the words with his fingers, "He left us alone. At least we can come visit you whenever we want. Why don't you ever come visit us in Burgess during our season?"

"Yeah, why not?" Rose interjected. "We miss you during Summer, the least you could do is come visit when you're not busy!" Krystal gave the little girl a fond smile. "Because some of my tall mountains still meed snow, even during summer, and I can only fly short distances, you know that. But enough about me. How are Lily and Jasmine going? You haven't been trying to hug them again, have you Rosie?"

Rose hug her head in shame. "That was an accident! I didn't mean to freeze them!"

Krystal bent down and gave the little girl a hug. "Don't worry about it Rose. They understand. Because you're younger than Jack or them, It'll take you longer to completely master your powers. But you'll get it, don't worry. Now, not that I don't appreciate it, but how come you guys are here? I mean, don't you have work to do up north?"

"Oh yeah!" Jack had completely forgotten about the tooth hunt. "Sorry to rush out on you Kryssie," She scowled at the hated nickname, "But the Guardians are kinda holding us at ransom, and the tooth fairies have been captured, so we're helping them collect the teeth so Toothiana doesn't fade out of existence."

Krystal snorted. The other spirits, especially the seasonal ones, were highly skeptical of the fact that Guardians might actually fade out of existence without enough believers. I mean, look at Rose and Jack! One believer in 300 years, and they did all right! Rose nodded her head. "It's true, Krystal. Her feathers kinda fell out, an' she couldn't fly properly, an' her palace started to disinagrate!"

Krystal nodded her head, before a thought struck her. "Ransom? How on earth do they have anything on you two? I thought you were the masters of blackmail?"

Jack scowled. "They have our memories of when we were human." He said quietly. Krystal sucked in a breath. She knew how badly the Spirits of Winter wanted their memories back. They appeared to be the only spirits in the history of creation that didn't have at least a name or a face, or a vague plotline of their previous life. For the Guardians to hold that against them... well, Krystal could bet that the Guardians weren't gonna be forgiven anytime soon.

Rose tried to raise the cheer a little bit. "Tooth's really nice though, Kryssie! I think she's noticed a couple of our secrets, but she doesn't hold them against us, she's trying to help us, and she acts really nice, a lot like you do, just more..." She trailed off, thinking of the right word.

"Motherly?" Krystal asked with a smile, and Rose grinned. "Yup! That's it, motherly."

Jack looked out the door of the cave, and winced. "Look Krystal, we really do need to go. You've got the comm pebble, right?" Krystal nodded, and pulled an intricately iced pebble out off her pocket. She whispered something into it, and immediately, her voice echoed out of both Jack and Rose's pockets, perfectly in sync. "These still work, right?"

"Good job!" Jack grinned, and, after a hug goodbye, they all soared out of the cave together, before Krystal split apart to slide inside her cloud, and Jack and Rose headed off to find more teeth.


	9. Chapter 9

Not Alone

Chapter 9

 

Jack and Rose returned to the last area they had seen the Guardians, Shanghai, and to their relief, they could see Bunny jumping around houses. So they weren't missed then.

"Hi guys!" Tooth chirped, from right behind Jack, making him fall off the chimney pot he was standing on. "Where did you go? How come you don't have any teeth yet?"

...or not.

Jack straightened up haughtily. "As to the first question, we were visiting an old friend. as to the second... Well, lets say our old friend is very engaging."

"You haven't got any?" Tooth gasped. "But North and Bunny have a competition going and-"

"Say no more!" Jack announced grandly, nearly knocking Rose off the edge of a building with a grand sweep of his arm. "Whoops, sorry Rosie. Anyway, if we cannot defeat at least the Easter Kangaroo, I shall be ashamed to be called a prankster! Come, my loyal minion!"

"Yes, sire!" Rose giggled, and they jumped off a rooftop leaving a befuddled, but very amused Tooth behind.

They quickly found a room with a tooth waiting for collection, and Jack was about to grab it when Rose giggled and swiped it from his hand, before shrieking in surprise when a rabbit hole appeared beneath her feet. jack grabbed her hand to stop her falling in, but he wasn't able to grab the tooth that was dropped, only to be caught by a very smug Australian Guardian.

"Oh, he goes too far!" Jack growled, pulling Rose out of the hole. "He didn't even care that you could be hurt, he just wanted to get the tooth. You know," He mused, suddenly pensive, "Only Tooth and Sandy seem to remember that we are actually children. The other two just act as though we can handle anything they throw at us, and they forget that we are not as physically or mentally strong as them."

"Well," Rose broke the somber mood. "I'm sure you're definitely mentally stronger than Bunny." Jack chuckled and high fived his sister. "Too true. Now, let's win this competition!"

"Wait, Jack." Rose was frowning in concentration. "Doesn't the tooth fairies leave money when they collect?"

Jack nodded. "Firstly, it's don't, not doesn't, and secondly, yeah, they do. We should warn Sandy, and watch the others make fools of themselves. Where'd we get the coins though?"

Rose smirked. "Well, the Tooth Palace is unoccupied right now..." Jack smirked also. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

Jack and Rose soared over to the Tooth Palace, which was thankfully nearby, them being in Asia and all, and grabbed a bag full each of the handy convert-all coins that Tooth used. The theory behind them was that Tooth was too honorable to steal, and she would have to steal from various banks around the world to get enough currency for each country for her tooth fairies to give out, so she used the convert-all coins. They sensed the users need, and transformed into the right currency, and amount that the user wanted to give.

After they left the Tooth Palace, which seemed almost spooky without the continual rush of tooth fairies in and out, they went to find Sandy, and warned him about the money, whilst giving him a small bag of convert-all coins. He could always go back and get more if he ran out. He gave them a cheery thumbs up and a mischievous smile.

Once they were back amongst the houses, they noticed the rivalry Tooth had told them about going on, especially the pranks playing out between the three male Guardians. With a grin, Jack and Rose joined in. At least they could act their ages...

With a thought, they split up, Jack freezing an extremely thin, and extremely clear layer of ice across one of Bunny's holes so he'd hit his head when he jumped out or his feet when he jumped in. And as we all know, Bunny's feet and cold don't mix...

Rose meanwhile, had been busy filling chimneys with ice, easily meltable mind you, so the house owners wouldn't have any trouble in the morning, but she made the ice so thick that North wouldn't even break it by sliding down the chimney and putting his full weight on it. Her job done, Rose grinned impishly and leapt out a window, where Jack was waiting to catch her.

Several cities, and countless pranks later, Tooth called them all together to check on their progress. She was secretly delighted to see that the bag that they brandished was much bigger than Bunny's, who seemed to be rubbing his head slightly. She ignored that and turned to the group. "Wow, you guys collect teeth and leave gifts as fast as my fairies!"

She notes with alarm the suddenly guilty look on North and Bunny's faces, and asked cautiously, "You have been leaving gifts right?" North and Bunny shook their heads mutely, and headed off to find some coins and other gifts, while Sandy headed off with a grin. Tooth headed off to Jack and Rose, who both looked really smug. "Okay, admit it, what did you do?"

"We just got some of your coins from the Tooth Palace because no one was using it now." Rose said with an angelic expression, that Tooth didn't trust one bit. She frowned. "Right. But why didn't you tell the others besides Sandy?"

"Why should we?" Jack asked with honest curiosity. "They've acted like dirtbags to us, and this is a competition. It's every man-"

"Or woman!" Rose interjected indignantly

"-Or woman for themselves." Jack finished, not even breaking stride. Tooth blinked, once again put out by their apparent synchronization. "But you two worked together!" She objected. "Aren't there no teams?"

"We're always a team." Jack and Rose told her in sync, proving their point. Giving up for now, Tooth nodded, getting the message. "So, how come you remembered the teeth in the first place?"

"Well, we were in Shanghai remember," Jack told her easily, "When Rose reminded me that tooth fairies traditionally leave gifts, and the Palace wasn't too far away, so we zipped over and stocked up."

Tooth stifled a laugh. "Just keep it up, you two."

Jack saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" She rolled her eyes at him, but flew away to continue searching.


	10. Chapter 10

Not Alone

Chapter 10

The group of 6 had gone all the way around the world, and now they were at the last town, Burgess, Jack and Rose's home. The last tooth to be collected was Jamie Bennett's, the boy that Jack had 'accidentally' hit with a sofa, a few days ago. Speaking of... Rose leaned over and smacked the back of Jack's head. He rubbed it fiercely, his little sister could hit like no-one's business. "Ow! Rosie, what was that for?"

She indicated the boy on the bed. "For hitting him in the back of the head with a snowball-do you know how heavy those things are? - for dragging him on dangerous roads, for hitting him with a sofa-"

"That was you?" Tooth had watched the 8-year-old tell off the teen with amusement, but she finally interrupted her rant. "Was it on purpose?"

Jack looked stunned. "What? No! I would never hurt Jamie, he's our favorite kid! It's just that, we pulled him on a sled ride through the streets to get him to loosen up some, and the sofa must've slipped on my ice or something."

"Humph." Tooth was appeased, but only slightly. She looked around the room, noting all the supernatural drawings on the wall. She looked closer at one and gasped slightly. "Hey Jack, come look at this!"

Jack and Rose crept over, mindful of the sleeping greyhound on Jamie's bed, and took a closer look at the picture Tooth was studying. Rose's eyes widened. "No way."

It was a crude picture of Jack and Rose in the snow fight from the other day. The finer details were incorrect, but you could clearly tell who they were. Rose blinked back tears. "He wants to believe in us." She said quietly.

Tooth looked at her sideways, more than a bit surprised. "Haven't you had believers before?" She asked suddenly, a clenching fear in her heart that the children would say no assaulting her. To have never been seen at all...

"No." Rose confessed softly. "We've never had believers." Tooth felt tears fill her eyes, and she gave the two children a hug. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry." Jack and Rose shrugged. "We'll get them eventually. So, how come you haven't been collecting for 440 years?"

Tooth shrugged, looking away from the two children. "There were too many teeth to collect, and the tooth fairies needed me to coordinate and..." She faltered to a stop under Jack's raised eyebrow. She sighed. "It hurt too badly, sticking around, and seeing the kids become teenagers who didn't believe in the tooth fairy. it was easier just to not get involved. But this," She stared at Jamie's sleeping face wistfully. "This was always my favorite part, Just watching them sleep. Oh, why did I ever stop this?"

North interrupted anything Rose was about to say by clambering in the window noisily, Sandy by his side, and large red sack on his shoulder, only to be met with three vicious 'Shhh!'s.

He nodded his head and whispered "How are you feeling Toothie?"

Her joyful answer of "Believed in!" Was cut short by the arrival of Bunny, climbing out of a hole in the corner of the room and loudly proclaiming, "Oh, I see how it is. Conspiring together to make sure the rabbit gets last place-"

"SHH!"

Bunny was nearly bowled over, but he shut up and moved over to the bed. Jack grinned at the grumpy look on the rabbit's face, and waved his and Rose's bag under Bunny's nose. "Now, that's a bag of choppers, huh?"

Bunny tried to act mature by ignoring the grinning teen and putting down his noticeably smaller bag, but before he could say anything, North butted in. "This is not a competition. But if it is... I WIN! Yehaw!" North did his victory dance around the bedroom, only to freeze when a torch flicked on.

Jamie Bennett was sitting up in bed, staring wide eyed at the immortals before him, his pet greyhound growling softly. Rose grinned. "This is so cool! Can he see us?"

Bunny shook his head sadly. "Not all of us." He murmured as Jamie's torch beam whizzed right past the place where she and her brother had been standing and came to rest on Tooth. "You came!" He said excitedly. Jack's expression dropped, and Rose gave him a quick hug. Tooth noticed, but turned her attention to the boy before her. "We sure did sweetie. Have you been flossing?"

Bunny shifted slightly and the greyhound on Jamie's bed stood up instantly, growling, hackles raised. Jamie tugged on the dog insistently, but she would not be budged. "Abby, No! What are you doing? That's the Easter Bunny!"

Jack laughed slightly. "Bunny, that's a greyhound. Do you know what greyhounds do to rabbits?"

Bunny rolled his shoulders confidently. "I bet he's never met a rabbit like me before. 6'11'', Master of Tai Chi - CRIKEY!"

He ducked as the dog lunged, spurned by the alarm clock Rose has sneakily thrown a snowball at. She and Jack threw themselves to the floor, knowing sand streams would soon be flying. when the carnage stopped, they cautiously got up to see that Sandy was the only one unscathed. Jack burst out laughing. "Got it Rose?" he managed.

"Yep!" She grinned, passing Jack a camera that was clearly to big to fit in her small dress pocket. While Jack was busy taking incriminating Photos of Bunny and North-Tooth was too nice- Rose explained the camera dilemma to a puzzled Sandy.

"you see, one of our friends in India is a really nice spirit called Shaheera, and she's the Goddess of Monsoons and crops, and she charms the clouds to hold much more water than normal, which is why it rains so much during monsoon season. Anyway, one year she was sick, and she couldn't monitor the clouds properly. She watches carefully so that it doesn't flood all of India and kill everyone see? But one year she was sick, so we came and froze the clouds shut until she was well enough to monitor them for herself. As a reward, she charmed our pockets bigger on the inside for us. Neat, eh?"

Sandy nodded in approval, but there was a sudden flash of darkness outside the bedroom window, and Jack was pulling Rose onto his back before Sandy had even registered him moving. That was fast he mused to himself. Jack looked impatient and edgy. "Come on Sandy, we can finish him off this time!"

Rose shivered from an unknown menace in the air. Something was going to go wrong. She tried to share it with Jack, but he just brushed her off. A Nightmare whooshed past before Rose could blink and, with reflexes she didn't know she had, Rose pulled out her bow and shot it through the side in one shot. Jack whistled appreciatively. "Good shot Rose!"

"Can we do it again Jack? Pleeeeease? We haven't done it in aaages!"

Jack sighed in mock-defeat, before flipping around and giving Rose a wind-fuelled puch towards the pavement. She screamed in exhilaration before being grabbed securely seconds before going splat on the ground. Rose laughed into her brothers hoodie as they flew up. "Let's do that again!"

"Sorry Sissy, we gotta go." Rose looked up. Jack only called her sissy if it was serious. without a warning, A nightmare rammed Jack from behind, throwing Rose into the air. She screamed for real that time as she flew through the air, before her fall was halted abruptly by a washing line on an apartment roof. Rose clambered off the pile of clothes with shaking legs, before noticing the small Nightmare come a bit too close to the supposedly helpless girl.

Rose lashed out in frustration at the horse-like messenger, and to her surprise it flew backwards, landing on a higher roof. Rose climbed up to check on it, before noticing a half melted, half frozen puddle of black frost lying on the rooftop. She crept towards it warily, poking it with her bow, before yelling out excitedly, "Jack! I got this one! Jack?"

A voice behind her made Rose freeze suddenly. "My my, what are you doing out here all alone, Rosetta?"

"Th-that's not my name." Rose said, cursing herself for stuttering as she turned around. Pitch Black stood behind her, smiling that creepy smile of his. He took one step towards her... and got a snowball in the face.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Jack's voice was ice cold (A/N: pun intended) as he stared Pitch down. "You leave her alone." Jack continued, moving to stand in front of his baby sister. "Now go away, and leave the teeth alone."

"Why do you care about the teeth?" Pitch spat angrily. "You have- Ah, this is who I've been dying to see." He interrupted himself, spotting Sandy. "Sanderson."

Sandy scowled, and threw sandwhips at the King of Nightmares. He ducked under the first one, and dodged the second, but the third one grabbed his ankle and threw him down to the pavement, three stories below. Jack nodded fiercely. "He deserved it." He told the satisfied Sandman, holding tightly to Rose with one hand.

The three of them climbed down from the building to see Pitch weakly climbing out of the dent he had made when he hit the street. His movement hurried considerably when he saw Sandy come towards him with murder in his eyes. "Look Sandy, you can't blame me for trying! You don't know what it's like, being alone and unwanted! So I'll tell you what," Pitches voice turned cold as steel. "You can have them back."

A huge wave of nightmares reared out of the shadows, the sewers, the corners of your eye. Within seconds, the three immortals were surrounded. Rose swore.

"Oh muffins."


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I forgot about this story, for anyone still following it*, but it is complete, so have the rest of it!
> 
> *please note I wrote this as a fairly overdramatic teenager, and I have not changed a thing about this story, so if it makes you cringe and want to smash your screen up, I would not be surprised, and I wouldn't blame you for clicking the back button

Jack, Rose and Sandy stared at the mass of nightmares surrounding them. Jack swallowed heavily. “You take the ones on the left, we’ll take the ones on the right?” he asked Sandy desperately.

  


Just then, the sleigh came barrelling out from a side street, a half-awake North at the reins, and flew over their heads, nearly knocking Pitch off the nightmare he was riding. Sandy took advantage of his distraction and grabbed Jack and Rose before spiralling up into the sky on a funnel of dreamsand.

  


Rose yelled as He let the winter children go mid-spin but soon Jack’s arms were around her, and she was being deposited on the sleigh. She whipped out her quiver, which also held her bow. She strung it in one smooth movement, and stood tense and ready, waiting for a strike. Suddenly, Jack’s voice echoed in her head. You’re not sulking on me again, are you? Rose let out an impatient huff. Yeah, right. Anyway, I know that you have to do this. I can’t fly, and bows are generally used for- DUCK!

  


Jack dodged the Nightmare behind him with ease, just as at least two ice-fletched arrows sprouted from the creatures hide. Jack nodded. Thanks sis before throwing himself into the fight, swinging his staff with wild abandon, and taking down Nightmares wherever they stood. He spared one guilty thought for what Lily would say if he came to visit with another cracked rib, but reminded himself that Rose could fix him up just fine, and threw himself back into the fray, seeing arrows impacting Nightmares out of the corner of his eye.

  


A split-second later, Jack heard Rose’s scream spilt the air. He spun around to see her go flying off the sleigh; apparently she’d been hit by one of Bunny’s returning boomerangs. He pushed down a surge of anger at the Pooka, and dive forwards, intercepting Rose in mid-air. He held her to his chest; he could feel her shaking. “We’re going to have to stop making this a habit.” He murmured into her hair. Rose just laughed shakily, before her relieved face morphed into one of horror. Jack spun around and, with a thrill of terror, saw Pitch pull back an imaginary bow filled with a large, deadly arrow made of Nightmare Sand.

  


“NO!” He yelled, and launched off the sleigh, moving faster than he ever had before, but knowing it was too late. Jack could see Sandy's golden sand shrinking, smaller and smaller, until with a flare of light, it vanished completely, swallowed up by the black sand. Jack stared, numb, unable to believe it, while Rose's cry of misery echoed through his head. _No_ , he murmered silently. _NO!_

  


Jack suddenly shot towards Pitch, fire in his eyes, ignoring the shouts from the Guardians behind him. Pitch simply smiled and raised his arms, causing a wave of darkness to wash over the teenage spirit. 

  


On the sleigh, Rose cried out in pain as she started to glow, brighter and brighter. Tooth looked away and noticed an identical glow coming from where Pitch had swamped Jack. 

  


Jack grunted in pain as an incredible amount of power, more than he'd ever had to channel before, washed through him. He frowned, wondering where it all come from, before catching the scent of flowers and wind and excitement that was so uniquely Rose, and smiled slightly. Ah, that's was it. With a roar of pain, frustration and grief, he brought his staff over his head, imagining Rose's small hands holding the staff too, and together they blasted all the excess power into Pitch. Jack faintly saw the black wave almost instantly crysalize and explode, before a pulse of dizziness swept through him, and he started to fall.  _Oh, crap._

  


Almost at the same time, Rose shivered and collapsed in the sleigh, gasping, "Get... Jack..." to a worried Tooth who had rushed over to get to her. Tooth looked around and saw Jack falling through the sky like a stone. She flew towards him and grabbed him, noticing how thin and light he was as she towed him towards the sleigh. As she laid him down on the wooden slats, he opened his eyes and noticed Rose lying on the wood next to him. Reaching out, he pulled the little girl over to him, and started tapping her face gently, callign to her both out loud and mentally. "Rose? C'mon, Rosie, wake up! Rosie?"

  


Rose opened her eyes sleepily and Jack sighed in relief. All at once, Rose's eyes cleared as she remembered what had happened, and she turned to bury her face in Jack's hoodie. Jack could feel the ice-cold tears soaking into his jumper, but he didn't say a word, only pulling his sister tighter into his embrace. the rest of the ride back to the pole was spent in silence. 

  


When they arrived, Jack slung a drowsy Rose onto his back and flew off without a second thought, causing Tooth to frown and follow them, ignoring North's plans for a Guardian-only memorial.

  


Tooth found them in one of the highest places in the place, siting on a windowsill and drawing ice pictures on the windows. Rose's was a slightly clumsy picture of different sand animals, while Jack was doing an incredibly detailed and small ice drawing of the Sandman himself. Tooth cleared her throat nervously. "They're beautiful, you two. I'm sure Sandy would have loved them."

  


Jack spun around, and Tooth noticed that his eyes were red, before he snapped, "Did North send you to spy on us? We're perfectlyt aware we're not alowed to join the me-memorial for Sandy." His voice wavered slightly, but his face was firm. Tooth shook her nead.

  


"No, I came to see how you were doing. I think North's being a complete idiot about this, but I can't change his midn if he doesn't want it to be changed. Also, I think we need to talk."

  


Jack's slightly resigned nod was a bit of a suprise for Tooth, but all he said was, "Go ahead,"

  


Tooth nodded slightly nervously. "First, you two are telepathic, aren't you." Jack nodded his head, slightly reigned while Rose grinned, though there was still sadness lurking behind her eyes. "Jack owes me a visit to Scarlett now. I told him one of the Guardians would figure it out."

  


Tooth smiled warmly at the little girl, directing her next question to her alone. "You knew I was watching, didn't you?"  
  


Rode nodded her head. "We'd been alone for so long, we knew how to look after ourselves. Unfortunately, even we make mistakes. So when I noticed you watching us all the time and told Jack, we figured one of us had accidentally let something slip. We're not used to being around people who can see us and don't know anything about us. Do North and Bunny know?"

  


"No." Tooth told the two, cvausing almost impreceptible sighs of relief. "They're too think to notice it on their own,. and I cetaintly wasn't going to tell them after the way they treated you. Now, I was wondering..." Tooth dithered nervously for a second. "You two seem really lonely, and you don't really have anyone to talk to often, and I'm kinda woried about you, and-"

  


Jack cut her off. "Tooth, you're rambling. What's up?"

  


"IwaskindawonderingifIcouldbeyourmother?" Tooth burst out.

  


Jack looked confused, while Rose looked slightly hopeful. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" He asked her.

  


"I was wondering if you would like me to be your mother?" Tooth said calmly, although her heart was beating like a drum. 

  


Jack looked stunned, but Rose grinned, a pure, honest smile of joy, and she ran over to hug Tooth, chanting "Yes, yes, yes!" As she went. Tooth almost deflated in relief, and Jack simply smiled and nodded, walking over and giving the tooth fairy a hug as well. as he pulled back, he said, the most honestly Tooth had ever seen him, "I'd like that. As long as we don't have to call you mum?"

  


Tooth laughed and shook her head before pulling Jack back into the group hug.


	12. Chapter 12

A little while later, the immortals gathered in the Globe Room. Every now and again Jack or Rose would shoot Tooth shy little smiles, which she would return in full. Baby Tooth had almost fainted with joy when she had found out, and Jack had to catch her when she dropped out of the air. Rose had decided that the little fairy probably had a little crush on her big brother, but she didn't mind. 

  


As the globe spun above them, Jack took to the air and flew slowly around it, looking at all the flickering lights.  _I hope the other Seasonals aren't too badly affected by this,_ he told Rose. She shook her head.  _It's only the Guardians he wants to attack. They'll be fine._ He shrugged _. I hope so_ he muttered before speaking out loud.

  


"It's fear. He's tipped the balance." North nodded thoughtfully but Bunny ignored him, jumping up onto a control panel that presumably controlled the Globe. Jack saw North wince slightly, but Bunny either didn't notice, or care. 

  


"Buck up, ya sad-sacks! Easter is tomorrow, and I need your help! I saw we pull out all the stops and get those little lights flickering again!"

  


Jack leaned over to Rose and muttered loud enough for Tooth to hear, "Worst inspirational speech ever!" Rose giggled Tooth shot him a mock-reproving look, though her eyes were dancing, and Bunny just huffed and ignored the teen once again.

  


As they walked through the Pole, Tooth fluttered over to jack and muttered in his ear, "You'd better hold on to Rose. Bunny gets pretty stupid when he's showing off, and he'll take any chance to- ARRGH!"

  


Without warning an oversized rabbit hole appeared underneath all five immortals as well as several unfortunate yeti's and at least 5 elves. Jack held Rose tightly, thankful for Tooth's warning, and mentally planning all the ways he could kill the Pooka for this stunt. She was 8, for Moon's sake!

  


Soon the tunnel ended, and the group, bar Jack and Rose, ended up sprawled on the ground in a bright tunnel that could only be the Warren. Rose's jaw dropped, and she ran off to explore. Jack smiled fondly after her, before turning to Bunny and letting him have it. "Are you crazy! Seriously, we are just children, in case you've forgotten, and Rose can't even fly! What if you'd hurt her? Huh? Oh, no, it doesn't matter, they're only seasonal spirits, they don't have feelings, THEY CAN'T CRY!!!"

  


Bunny opened his mouth to retort, but a vibration from a distant tunnel made him twitch. "Something's wrong." He announced. Jack rolled his eyes.  _No shit Sherlock!_

  


_Jack, language!_ Rose scolded. Jack ducked his head to hide his grin.  _Yes ma'am_ . The vibrations were getting stronger, and Bunny's ears twitched in confusion. "It feels like there's two of them." He announced, before trying to marshal the others into a fighting pose. Jack slipped away, sensing strong amusement from his sister that she was trying to hide. Instead of prying, he simply held back, and watched as the group rushed towards the tunnel... to be confronted with Sophie Bennet, running out with several eggs cradled in her arms, and a laughing Rose, who Sophie couldn't see. Jack laughed too, especially after Bunny spun around to face North and half-screamed, "What is SHE doin' HERE?"

  


"Well... I wouldn't ask him... it's your Warren you know!" Jack choked out, breathless from laughing so hard. Bunny simply stalked off in a huff, while North guiltily checked his pockets and muttered "Snowglobe" to no-one in particular. Rose was still laughing, and so she didn't have time to get up and move away when the little girl ran straight through her in her persuit of an elf. All the Guardians looked deeply shocked, but Tooth recovered first, flying straight to Rose and giving her a good long Motherly hug. 

  


Bunny dithered for a second before deciding to ignore Rose, again, and started to rant. "I want her out of here, I NEED her out of here, I-"

  


"Oh, take a snowflake, won't you?" Jack interupted tiredly, sending a snowflake flying off his fingers and across the glade to land on Bunny's face. The Pooka's face lit up, and soon he was explaining egg creation to an enraptured Sophie. Rose, free from her hug, wandered over to sit with Jack. "That was more special than usual, wasn't it?" She knowingly asked her big brother.

  


"Uh-huh." Jack nodded. "It means he'll treat the first child he sets eyes on, in this case Sophie, extra specially from this day forwards until she forgets him. I figure at least one kid shoulod have affection, even if it's arteficial, from the Easter Bunny."

  


"It was a good thing to do." Tooth entered the conversation. "And you know, maybe over time it won't be so arteficial after all."

  


Jack shrugged, before moving off. "I wanna paint some of those eggs. I've always wanted to, and I'm not likely to ever get the chance again, so..."

  


Rose squealed in excitement and ran off, almost narowly missing a dip into the dye pools when a stray elf got underfoot. Jack smiled after her before giving a surpried Tooth a hug and racing off after a hyper Rose. 

  


Many hours later, as they were finishing up, Rose had an idea.  _Hey Jack?_ She ventured.

_Yeah?_

_if your flakes create fun in people, do you think that fun might be your centre?_

_you know Rosie, I think you might be right... what's yours though?_

_Sensibilty?_

_Haha, real funny. I'm serious Rose. What's your centre?_

_I guess you'll have to figure it out for me then, won't you?_

_I'll think about it._

  


Closing the conversation, Jack turned back to the lasst few eggs he was finishing up as he pondered his little sister's centre. After he had collected the sleeping Sophie from Tooth and gone to sit on a hill, watching the eggs be herded into tunnels, he still had drawn a blank. Just then, Bunny came and sat down beside him. Jack mentally warned Rose, and tensed, but outwardly didn't show any reation. 

  


"Look." Bunny started. "I'm sorry about '68." Ignoring Jack's dumbfounded look, he soldiered on, determined to get this off his chest. "I didn't mean to hurt you or ya sister, and I certaintly didn't mean to hurt you earlier with th' tunnel. I've been acting like a bit of an ass, and I'm sorry, Jack."

  


Jack realized with a start that it was the first time he had called either of the Frost siblings by name. Shaking his head (will wonders never cease?) he turned to the waiting Easter Bunny and spoke slowly, organizing his thoughts.

  


"I... appreciate that... and, I guess I'm sorry too. Especially for calling you a kangaroo."

  


Bunny laughed, breaking the tense silence. "It's th' accent, isn't it?" Jack nodded his head, laughing a little himself, and as if by magic, Rose appeared on his other side, smiling at the Easter Bunny. "Thanks for the appology!" She grinned.

  


"How on earth could you know... were you listening in?" Bunny asked incredulously. Rose nodded, still grinning brightly, and Bunny rolled his eyes, before yelping as Sophie rolled onto his foot. "I'll take her home." Jack said quietly.

  


North looked up sharply. "Jack no! We need you here!"

  


"don't worry, with my staff and Rosie's bow, we'll be fine. We'll be as quick as a bunny!" He smirked and met Bunny's eye. To his suprise the Pooka laughed slightly.  _Huh. Maybe the fun flake is still working?_ Jack mused, as the two grabbed the toddler and left the Warren, wary of any little traps that may be hanging around. Tooth stared after them worriedly.

  


_I have a bad feeling something is going to go wrong._ She mused.


	13. Chapter 13

Jack laughed as Rose unsuccessfully tried to prise Sophie out of the death-grip on her arm. She sure was stubborn. Eventually, Rose almost threw the toddler onto her bed, where she bounced... and landed on the floor.

  


Jack and Rose winced, muttering "Oops", but approaching footsteps made Rose quickly drop a blanket and toy onto Sophie as the winter spirits quickly flew out of the window.

  


Sitting on the roof, Jack laughed for the first time in what felt like forever, Rose joining in. Despite all of the good things that had happened to the pair recently, Jack felt as though he was being stifled, and he was relieved for the chance for it to just be him, Rose and the Wind under the moon. As he tipped his head back, relaxed for the first time since the sledding accident, a sudden, familiar voice echoed throughout the still air. "Jackson! Rosetta!"

  


Jack started upright, looking around wildly, and Rose fell off the roof in shock, only for Jack's hand to fasten around her wrist and pull her back up. "You okay Rosie?" He asked her. "Wow, what was that!?"

  


She shook her head solemnly. "I have absolutely no idea Jack, but the worst part was: It felt familiar. Like I should know that voice. Like I've heard it every day of my life... But that's impossible."

  


"Jackson, stop it!" The voice echoed again. Jack twitched subconsciously, as though he was relieving a memory for a second before he stood up. "We should find out who that is."

  


"Jack wait-" Rose stopped for a second, Jack looking at her in confusion, though she could see the flicker of impatience in his eyes. She gathered her thoughts for a second, unsure of how to voice her concerns before speaking. "Don't you think this is serious Jack? We could have been brainwashed or something! What if it's a trap? I don't think we should do this alone. At least call Krystal and ask for backup!"

  


Jack shrugged his shoulders lightly, a dismissive gesture that Rose knew too well. "C'mon Rose, I really need to find out who that is! Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?"

  


Rose rolled her eyes at the truly pathetic puppy-dog eyes her brother was giving her, but she agreed nonetheless, shaking her unease off as if it were a blanket. She'd been too busy with Jack recently, she must've been more strung out than she thought. "Fine, let's go. I must admit, I want to find out whose voice that it also."

  


Jack gave a whoop of joy and jumped off the roof, towing Rose behind him. She simply had to laugh in delight, as they soared through the air, but the voice echoed out again (Rosetta, stop it! Jackson!) and her head whipped around, trying to track the elusive voice. "That way, I think..." She ventured, pointing North-West. Jack grinned at her. "Lead the way, navigator!"

  


They continued tracking the scolding voice for about 10 minutes until they came to a clearing in the woods with a rotted wooden bed frame standing in the centre of the clearing. As they approached, Jack noticed a dark hole underneath the rotted timbers. Rose drew back slightly at the sight of it, murmuring "Something's wrong."

  


Jack looked at her exasperatingly. "But Rose, we gotta find out who that is!" As if to prove his point, the voice called "Rosetta!" Invitingly into the air. 

  


Rose nodded reluctantly, and several well-placed hits of Jack's staff later, and they were down the rabbit-hole, so to speak. Rose looked around slightly, clinging to Jack's leg in a way that she hadn't done since she was 5 years dead. this whole place unnerved her. As they entered a giant cavern, Rose looked around and gasped in horror. 

  


There were several large cages attached to the ceiling, and in them were the lost tooth fairies. The second she saw the cages, Rose leaped for them, getting a running head start, and managing to grab the bottom while climbing her way up from there. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here." She told the fairies who were now clustering anxiously around her hands. "Jack'll help me... Jack?" She called, but he didn't respond. "Jack?" She called, looking around fully this time, but still no response. 

  


Properly scared now, Rose jumped off the cages, looking around. "Jack, come out now! I'm scared, Jack!"

  


"Yes indeed you are." The smooth voice came from right behind her, and Rose spun around with a little yelp of shock as she beheld Pitch Black for the first time. Stunned, Rose blurted out the first thing that came into her head. "I thought you'd be more pointy."

  


A flash of irritation crossed Pitch's face for a second before dying away. "Indeed. And why would an alone little winter sprite be wandering around my palace?"

  


Rose scowled. "How dare you? I'm not a Sprite, I'm one of the SPIRITS OF WINTER! Big difference! And I'm not alone. I have Jack. Now, what have you done with him!"

  


Instead of answering, Pitch tipped his head back, breathing in through his nose as if smelling something beautiful. "Ahh, your fear is intoxicating! I've never found someone full of so much fear before! So, so scared Rose Frost. Scared your memories will never be recovered, scared your precious Seasonals will shun you, scared that that pathetic Tooth Fairy will realize truly how weak you are, and of course, mainly scared that your brother will walk away from you, that he will leave you behind and abandon you to the world-"

  


"SHUT UP!" Rose had tears streaming down her face now, but she didn't falter. "You vile, evil twisted MONSTER! You shut up about Jack, because he is a THOUSAND times better than you will ever be, so take that!"

  


Running forwards, Rose kicked the highest part of the Boogeyman she could reach, his kneecap. As Pitch crumpled very undramatically to the ground, groaning in pain, Rose hissed, "That was for Sandy!" At him, and turned to walk away. A sudden shout -Jack's shout- behind her made her freeze, but by then it was too late. Pitch's hand fastened around her ankle as he hissed, " Oh no you don't, you little BRAT! I need something to bargain with your brother after all!"

  


Utterly terrified, Rose spun around and caught her brothers eyes as he dashed into the room, staff and bow (when had she dropped that?) in hand. Screaming, "Jack, help me!" at the top of her lungs, Rose was dragged into shadow and vanished from view. Jack ran forwards, but met only solid wall. Slamming his hands against it, he staggered backwards, looking for Rose. 

  


"Rose, ROSE! What have you done with her!" he demanded of the shadows. Pitch's voice echoed around him, making it difficult to tell where it was coming from. "Hated, feared, shunned. Winter is a terrible season, Jack Frost. And you wonder why you see the Seasonals so sparsely. Imagine how much worse living, and working, would be without your conscience, your guide, your sister, Rose."

  


Jack stopped dead. Everything he'd ever thought, not willing to tell Rose, laid bare, for Pitch of all people, to see. Pitch continued relentlessly, ignoring the teen's stricken expression. "Imagine how much she'd adore, you, love you, if you managed to give her this."

  


He tilted a hand forwards and a golden box caught Jack's eye. Jack instinctively knew it was a tooth memory box, their tooth memory box. He leaned forwards slightly, despite himself, before pulling back and grinding out through clenched teeth, "No way! I would NEVER sell Rosie out for our memories. NEVER!"

  


Pitch simply laughed and threw the box at Jack who caught it out of instinct, before looking at Pitch in horror. "What have you done!?"

  


Pitch's voice echoed through the shadows, practically inviting him forwards. "I hope you are proud of yourself. making a mess, wherever you go, leaving destruction in your wake. Happy Easter, Jack."

  


Jack ran after him, trying to catch him, but stumbling forwards, he found himself in one of Bunny's tunnels, the floor littered with broken eggshells. Spinning around, Jack found himself confronted with a large steel door, tightly locked.

  


"No, Rose, ROSE! Come back, give her back..." Jack screamed, slamming his hands against the door, over and over, until he realized he was sitting on the floor, cradling Rose's bow and crying, frozen tears falling onto the ground with little 'plinks'.

  


_Rose? Rose, please answer me! Rose, please be okay...._ he called to her, but no answer, mental or otherwise. A sudden noise startled him, and he looked up, a foreign thought running through his head. Have to get help. Jack shook his head. Tooth would help him. Stuffing Rose's bow and quiver into his expanded pocket, he wiped the frozen tears off his face and set off along the tunnel, looking for the Guardians.


	14. Chapter 14

Rose was shivering for the first time in her immortal life. Not out of cold, no, she was shivering in fear. She'd lost her bow, she assumed Pitch had taken it off her, and without it, she couldn't even try to make frost patterns. Not for the first time she wished she was older, with better control over her powers. Rose huddled at the bottom of the cage Pitch had left her in and cried. Please save me Jack, Please! She prayed.

  


Tooth was frantic. The nightmares had just blasted through the warren, how they had entered she had no idea, and had managed to destroy almost every single egg. Bunny had managed to save a basketful, but nowhere near the millions needed to send to the children of the world. Jack and Rose were nowhere to be seen, and Tooth was sick with worry over them. North and Bunny didn't care, in fact, they had quickly come to the assumption that it was the winter spirits fault. 

  


Finally Jack appeared, looking haggard, and panting, little hitches in his voice betraying his earlier tears. "Tooth... Help me... Rose... Pitch... Kidnapped..."

  


Tooth swept over and gave him a hug, studiously ignoring the wetness seeping into her feathers. "Don't worry sweet tooth, we'll get her back. Don't worry..."

  


Normally Jack would have fought any kind of coddling tooth and nail, but right now he was so emotionally fraught that he relished the chance to hide his face from the elder guardians, just for a moment. After a minute, he drew back, subtly wiping his eyes, a look of gratitude in them. Just then, Bunny hopped up, an aura of devastation around him making him blind to Jack and Tooth's private moment.

  


"He has ta go."

  


Tooth spun around as if burned. "What?" She gasped. Jack sagged backwards.  _What happened to forgiving and forgetting then?_ He thought tiredly, but he had no energy to put it to words. Bunny stalked forwards, looming over Jack. "We should NEVA have trusted you!" he was yelling now, raising a paw as if to strike him, and Jack was backing away looking shattered, Bunny continuing on relentlessly. "You and ya sista, you lyin' cheatin' scumbags, get out now, and neva come back! You're not Guardian material, we don' need the likes of you-" But Tooth had finally had enough. 

  


SLAP! Bunny's head snapped to one side, finally stopping the flow of vitriol spewing out of his mouth. He looked up, and straight into the eyes of one furious Tooth Fairy. "E. ASTER BUNNYMUND! How dare you say such foul, evil things like that! To CHILDREN, no less! The same children you swore to protect and cherish? Your duty is to protect children Bunny, not abuse them!"

  


Bunny glared at her, one paw cradling his cheek. "Well, if you love the little buggas so much, you can just follow that one over there away from here, huh?" He spat.

  


Tooth spun around, heart in her mouth, and saw Jack dropping the little red doll North had given him onto the grass before flying away. Tooth shot after him, but the wind blew against her fiercely, trying to stop her from getting to Jack. "I'm trying to help him!" She shouted into the air, but the wind persisted, and eventually she had to drop into the grass, admitting defeat. Tooth heard Bunny laugh darkly behind her, and she saw red. Spinning around, she glared at Bunny so hard that even North edged away. "YOU. ARE DEAD!" She hissed.

  


Jack flew blindly, tears filling his eyes. he thought Tooth had liked them! Bunny, well, Bunny had proved all Jack's suspicions. _I guess I was right about him, huh Rosie?_ Jack thought, and the hole in his heart only deepened with the lack of reply. 

  


Eventually the wind slacked off, and Jack found himself in Antarctica, more specifically, the point on one of the cliffs where jack often came to alone, or brought Rose, their special spot. Not many could come here, immortal or no, because of the freezing temperatures, any uncovered mortal would die within an hour, an immortal, barely longer. Jack stuck his hand into his pocket, and his hands formed around the slim golden box Pitch had thrown at him before he left the lair. Jack pulled it out and stared at it.

  


Two faces adorned the end, obviously related. A smiling boy with brown hair and eyes, and a younger girl with the same features. across the faces, in spidery letters, were the words: JACK FROST AND ROSE FROST. 

  


Jack stared at it for a second, before running over to the edge of the cliff with the intention of throwing it off, but at the last second, he felt a phantom hand on his arm, and Rose's voice whispering in his ear.  _Jack, no!_

  


Jack stopped and lowered his arm, puzzled, but before he could reply, a new voice called behind him. "Oh dear, I thought this might happen."

  


"PITCH!" Jack roared, spinning around, blasting a wave of ice at Pitch. He staggered under the assault, but kept going. "I was just trying to show you. They never believed in you. But I understand."

  


"YOU UNDERSTAND?" Jack bellowed, so loudly he thought his throat would tear under the assault, "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING! TOOTH DID BELIEVE IN US! AND NOW IT'S GONE AND IT'S ALL. YOUR. FAULT!"

  


A wave of ice and snow seemed to wrap around Jack, forming a cyclone, and he leapt at Pitch, wrapping his hands around the Boogeyman's throat. Now, for the first time, Pitch looked afraid. "Now, Jack, you haven't even heard my proposition yet. We-"

  


Jack dropped him, suddenly exhausted. "I don't care. I don't want to hear it. Now leave me alone."

  


Pitch glared, before his eyes narrowed, and he grinned slightly. "Fine! You want to be left alone? Done! But first..."

  


Jack froze as he heard an oh so familiar voice behind him. "Jack..."

  


"Rose." He whispered. Spinning around, he saw Pitch holding Rose's arm in a bruising grip, and her hands and feet were tied together. Jack dashed forwards, but stopped when Pitch tightened his hold even more, and Rose whimpered slightly. Jack dropped his arms slightly. "What do you want?" He asked dully, not moving his eyes from Rose's.

  


"The staff, Jack!" Pitch's voice rang out, and Jack looked up, frozen. Pitch's eyes held a firey glee in them; he knew he would win either way. "You have a bad habit of interfering. Now hand it over, and I’ll let her go."

  


"JACK, NO! DON'T DO IT!" Rose suddenly shrieked. Pitch snarled and drew back his hand, slapping her across the face. Jack actually flinched, then almost tossed the staff at Pitch, as though it was poisonous. "There! Now let her go!" he yelled desperately. Pitch smirked, triumphant. "No." 

  


Jack stopped dead. "What?" 

  


"You said you wanted to be alone. So BE ALONE!" Pitch goaded him. Jack jumped forwards uselessly, but at the same moment, Rose swung around and kicked Pitch right between the legs, hard. Pitch yelled in pain and shoved her backwards. Jack and Rose's eyes widened simultaneously. She was standing on the edge of a cliff!

  


Jack leapt forwards, but with a scream of terror Rose tipped backwards, hands still chained together. "NO!" Jack yelled, but, as he spun around, he saw Pitch snap his precious staff in two. A wave of pain shot through him, sending him to his knees as he groaned. The second of weakness was all Pitch needed. He shot a wave of sand at Jack, slaming him into the cliff face and tumbling into the same crevice as his sister.


	15. Chapter 15

Jack tumbled down, dimly aware that he wasn't hovering, that he didn't have his trusty staff in hand. With a crash he landed on the floor of the crevice, blacking out for a few seconds. 

  


When he woke up, Jack saw Rose lying near him, eyes closed. Ignoring his protesting ribs for the moment, he crawled towards her, looking at her face to make sure she was safe. On one side of her face an ugly bruise had formed, evidence that Pitch had slapped her at one point, and the skin around her upper arm was broken and bleeding sluggishly where Pitch's fingernails had dug into her skin. Jack made a mental note to get Rose to fix that later, once they were safe and out of this trench.

  


Then Rose stirred, opening her eyes. She saw Jack hovering over her and, most uncharacteristically, burst into tears. "I was so scared, Jack! Pitch put me in a cage, and I thought I'd never get out again!"

  


Jack pulled her carefully into a hug, mindful of her bruises, and as she moved into it, something clinked in Jack's pocket, and fell onto the ice. Rose drew back in surprise, and looked at the golden tooth box in shock. "Where did you get that?" Her question was neither accusing nor judging, purely questioning. Jack flinched slightly, but answered anyway.

  


"Pitch tossed it to me right after he dragged you through the shadows, said something about-" Jack blushed faintly. Rose noticed and nodded slightly for him to continue. Jack swallowed slightly and muttered, almost too low for Rose to hear, "About how proud you'd be of me if I managed to give this"He indicated the memory box between them, "To you."

  


Jack ducked his head slightly, but he was surprised when he felt Rose's arms snake around his neck. "Silly, Jack." She murmured into his hair. "You think that it would make a difference to me? We know that Pitch plays tricks. Hey, that rhymes!" She grinned briefly, so did Jack. She continued, "But even through all of that, You are my brother, my blood. Is there ANY way that I would not stay with you?"

  


Jack sighed in relief, letting a few tears drop. "The Guardians didn't believe me. They didn't even ask for my side of the story, just saw me coming out of the warren-that's where I ended up- with the memory box, and immediately judged. Stupid gits!" He scowled slightly.

  


Rose drew back slightly, shocked. "Not Tooth too! She wouldn't do that! Would she?"

  


Jack shook his head slightly. "She didn't say as much, but she certainly didn't correct Bunny when he told me to take you and bugger off and never return, that we were too good for the likes of them, and that we didn't deserve to be Guardians." His voice broke on the last word.

  


Rose moved to hug him again, but shifted when she pressed on his ribs and he hissed involuntarily. "What's wrong?"

  


"I think I cracked one of my ribs." He answered through gritted teeth. "Stupid Pitch, tossed me against the wall of the cliff then I fell down here. What about you? Did you hurt yourself?"

  


"Nah," She shook her head. "I grabbed the edge of the cliff as I went over, and then I was able to drop myself down. I was awake when you fell down, I was just a bit too dizzy to move. Here." She changed the subject, placing her hands under Jack's jumper on his bare chest. Jack tried to hide his flinch, but Rose rolled her eyes and sent her healing magic through her hands and into her brother's chest. She felt Jack sigh with relief and relax under her fingers, and withdrew her hands. Jack caught her wrist with one hand, and looked into her eyes. 

  


"Do you next." He insisted. Rose rolled her eyes but complied, placing one hand over her cheek, then on her upper arm where Pitch had grabbed her. Once she was done, they sat silently for a while. Eventually Rose looked at the golden box lying innocently between them. "We should open it." She broke the silence.

  


"Why?" Jack looked at her.

  


"It's what we've always wanted!" Rose looked at him incredulously. As if to prove her point, the box lit up, crying 'Jackson! Rosetta!' between them. Jack looked down. "It's just-" He whispered, "It's just, the last time I dragged you into something, you got Kidnapped by Pitch."

  


Rose took his hand. "Yeah, but this time, we'll do it together. Okay?"

  


Jack nodded. "Okay." And together, they touched their memories.


	16. Chapter 16

Jack and Rose sat still, memories flowing over them like a wave, flashes of a long forgotten life flickering behind their eyes.

 

XxXxX

 

Jack as a six-year-old, bouncing around the Frost family living room. "Why's Mama in your room, Father? Can we see her?" He asked.

 

"She's giving birth to your new brother or sister, Jackson." Thomas Overland Frost was a tall, burly man of about 45, with smile lines around his eyes. He bent down and picked up Jack, cuddling him on his lap as they sat in the room's only chair. "Be patient."

 

After ten minutes of waiting, the healer, a smiley woman by the name of Ruth, came out of the room, smiling gently. "You can go in and see her now." She told Jack and Thomas.

 

Jack jumped up with a yell, running into the master bedroom and stopping suddenly. His mother, Harriet, was sitting up in bed, cradling a blanketed bundle to her chest. Jack scrambled up onto the bed and sat next to his mother, watching the little face inside the blankets slowly blink awake. His mother smiled down at him. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked gently.

 

"Her?" Jack asked curiously.

 

"Yep. Say hello to your little sister, Rosetta Overland Frost." Jack took the bundle from his mother ever so carefully and looked into the brown eyes so similar to his own. "Rose. I'm gonna call you Rose." He whispered. "I'm gonna be the bestest big brother you ever had, 'kay Rosie?"

 

XxXxX

 

Jack older, Rose as a toddler, still shaky on her legs. "Dack! Dack!" She cried out. Jack stopped looking at his schoolbooks and walked over to where his sister was trying to climb the big water barrels in the corner. 

 

"You too short for that, Rosie!" He picked her up and she snuggled into his chest, grabbing fistfuls of his white shirt and chewing on them. Jack rolled his eyes slightly, but left her be.

 

XxXxX

 

Rose older now, Running around the house while her mother cooked in the kitchen. "Mama, where's Jack?"

 

"He's at school sweetie. Do you want to practice your reading?"

 

"No Mama." Rose retreated to a shared bedroom, one side girly, the other side much more practical. Rose sat on the practical bed and sighed. "Come home Jack." She said to the empty room. Suddenly, a door banged downstairs.

 

"Rosie, I'm home!"

 

Rose raced out of the room and tackled her big brother, making him stagger backwards a bit, laughing. "Do you wanna play hopscotch now?" He asked.

 

"YES!" Rose squealed. Their mother came out of the kitchen, frowning disapprovingly. "Jackson! How many times do I have to tell you? Finish your schoolwork before you play with your sister!"

 

Jack hung his head. "Sorry Mama." however, when their mother turned away, Jack snuck his sister a wink. "Tomorrow." He whispered. Rose giggled.

 

XxXxX

 

Rose older again, dressed in a new dress, obviously excited. "Wake up Jack! I'm going to school today!" She screamed into her previously sleeping brother's ear. As Jack got up we see he's older too, almost at his spirit age. 

 

"Oww, Rose, stop it!" He muttered, trying to go back to sleep, but she persisted, and grumbling, Jack got out of bed, Rose tugging on his hands. They headed into the kitchen, when jack ate breakfast, and Rose buzzed around, too excited too eat.

 

Once Jack is done Rose tugged him into the street and along to road to the schoolhouse. When the got there, Jack knelt down and gave Rose a big hug, ignoring the snickers behind him. "Any problems, you come to me, 'kay? Have fun!" he instructed her. Rose nodded solemnly and ran off into the crowd to play. Jack looked after her for a second before walking off too.

 

XxXxX

 

Jack is walking with his father and Rose into the woods. Suddenly, as they reach a clearing, Thomas stopped and spun to face them. "Now Jack, you are fifteen." He announced solemnly. "And you, Rose, are going out on your own a lot more. I want to give these to you, to help you. Jack,"

 

Thomas turned around for a moment, and pulled out a long thin something from behind the tree, and turned around slowly. Jack gasped.

 

It was a shepherd's crook. Intricately carved, it had a certain beauty to it, but Jack could tell without taking it that it was strong, sturdy enough to knock someone out if hit hard enough. Thomas handed the staff to Jack, before turning to Rose.

 

"Rose, I know that you are too young for proper arrows yet, but I will give you this, and teach you how to use it, in the hopes that, when it is needed, you will be able to stay out of the fighting." He presented her with a bow and quiver. Rose peeked inside the quiver to see almost-arrows, with fletchings, but no points. She pouted slightly, but understood the need for safety.

 

"Thank you Father!" Jack winked at Rose and they Jumped On Thomas, knocking him down with the unexpected attack, presents lying forgotten of the ground for now.

 

XxXxX

 

There's snow on the ground, and Rose is bouncing on Jack's bed, screaming "JACK! WAKE UP, SANTA CLAUS CAME!!!"

 

Jack pushed her off his bed with his eyes closed, before sitting up and getting dressed, Rose bouncing around the room like a puppy. The family ate breakfast together, then sat down to open presents.

 

Rose went first. Opening the present from her parents first, She found a beautifully decorated leather journal, perfect for writing in. After exchanging hugs, she opened the one from Jack. Jack had, somehow, managed to carve their entire family standing in front of a Christmas tree, out of one piece of wood. It was beautiful. Thomas and Harriet opened their present from Jack and found the same thing, but a bit bigger so it could sit on the mantelpiece. Their present from Rose were some wild flowers tied up with a silk ribbon. Harriet kissed her and popped them in a vase.

 

Jack opened his presents last. From his parents he got a new brown cloak, the old one getting rather tattered. From Rose, he got a hand-made quilt, the stitching crazily mismatched, and the patches extremely unaesthetic, but Jack didn't care, and when he wrapped it around his shoulders, it was the warmest he'd ever felt.

 

Their parents smiled at the two of them. "We have one more present for the two of you." Thomas said. Harriet got up from the floor, and walked out of the room, returning shortly with two identical wrapped packages in her hands. She handed the larger one to Jack, and the smaller one to Rose. They opened them together, to find:

 

"Ice skates!" Jack and Rose exclaimed joyfully, running over to hug their parents. Jack placed his carefully on his feet, but pouted in disappointment, saying sadly, "They're too big! Why did you get them too big Father? You know you can't skate in skates that don't fit!"

 

Thomas laughed. "The ice is too thin to skate on this winter, and I didn't want to buy you skates and have you grow out of them before you can even try them! They'll fit perfectly next winter. Alright?"

 

Jack nodded, much happier, while Rose simply squealed and hugged their parents again.

 

XxXxX

 

Jack is at his current age now, so is Rose. He sat up, yawned, and stretched, before remembering something, and dashing across the room to shake Rose awake. "C'mon Rosie, wake up! The Easter Bunny came!"

 

Rose sat up eagerly, looking around as if to see evidence before her eyes. "Wow really? Are you sure?"

 

"Well, no." He admitted, rubbing his neck abashedly. "But it's Easter, he has to have come!"

 

Rose giggled lightly; her brother was a bigger child than she was most days. "well then, we'd best get out there and check, huh?"

 

Jack whooped and dashed outside, ignoring his mother's half-hearted exclamation of "Jackson Overland Frost! Stop running in the house!" Rose followed him outside, and gasped in wonder.

 

The whole wood was covered in snow; a light dusting, but not even enough to make proper prints, let alone hide a vital egg from sight. A dozen children, of various ages were already combing the woods, looking for the brightly colored treats. Jack ducked back inside, and came out with the woven baskets they had gotten from their mother four Christmases ago precisely for this purpose. Giving one to his sister, he nodded and they split up, looking in opposite directions for the eggs.

 

Several hours later, they came together in a clearing. Jack's basket was piled high with brightly colored eggs, but poor Rose had only a handful. One glance at her disappointed face gave Jack the push he needed.

 

"Here." Rose looked up in surprise as a handful of colored eggs intruded in her vision. She looked at her brother, and only saw compassion. "I wasn't that hungry anyway."

 

Rose smiled and hugged him. No words were necessary.

 

XxXxX

 

It was winter again. Rose tugged on Jack's arm insistently. "Ja-ack! The pond's finally frozen over! You can finish your homework tomorrow! I wanna go skating!"

 

Jack sighed, but there was no annoyance in his tone when he said, "Alright Rosie. Give me ten minutes, then we can go."

 

Rose squealed in delight and ran off to get changed into her thick outside dress, and to grab her skates, sitting in pride of place on her shelf. 

 

Jack meanwhile shut his books, grabbed his cloak and skates, and was intercepted by Rose. She tugged her brother insistently out the door, leaving him barely enough time to call out.

 

"Bye Mama! We're going to go skating!"

 

"Be safe!" Came the reply. Jack smiled. "Okay!"

 

XxXxX

 

Now Rose is crying, standing in the prized skates on thin, too thin ice, and Jack is barefoot, reaching out to her. "It's okay, it's okay." He soothed. "Don't look down, Just look at me."

 

Rose's breath hitched. "Jack, I'm scared." She admitted softly. The ice below her cracked more, and she muffled a scream. Jack reached for her helplessly. "I know, I know...but you’re gonna be alright. You’re not gonna fall in. We’re gonna have a little fun instead."

 

Rose shook her head helplessly. "No, we're not!"

 

Jack stepped back placatingly. "Would I trick you?" The response was immediate. "YES! You always play tricks!"

 

Memories of the various pranks, both played on him and by him, during his childhood filtered through his mind, and Jack internally winced. Bad choice of words. "Well, alright. Not this time, I promise. You're gonna- you're gonna be fine."

 

Jack looked at Rose seriously. "You have to believe in me."

 

She nodded firmly, saying shakily, "I know, Jack. I gotta be brave, right?

 

 

Jack nodded enthusiastically, then stood up straighter as a plan bloomed in his head. "You wanna play a game? We're going to play hopscotch! Like we play every day!"

 

Rose smiled slightly. Jack took it as a sign of encouragement and continued. "It's as easy as one... Woah!"

 

He had made the first step easily, but then tripped dramatically, waving his arms and legs around like a ballet dancer to make Rose laugh. He succeeded.

 

"Two... Three!" Jack had managed to reach his staff, from where he'd thankfully placed it on the ice. Grabbing he spun around, facing Rose with a steely expression. "Alright. Now it's your turn."

 

Rose nodded faintly and took a tiny step forwards. "One..." Jack whispered. The ice cracks again, but Rose ignored it. "Two..." Jack urged her forwards as she slid forwards slightly. "Three!" He leant forwards and hooked her around the chest, tossing her onto safe ice, but pushing himself onto the damaged.

 

Jack sat up, smiling with relief as he caught sight of Rose, siting safely on the undamaged ice, but, just as he rose to his feet, the ice broke under him and he fell into the water, Rose following him without a second thought.

 

Jack struggled, trying to fight the freezing water, but there was no use, Neither he nor Rose had ever learned to swim, and the water was so cold it made any limb movement practically impossible. Just as he gave up, his eyes sliding closed, they flew open again, meeting Rose's equally shocked ones, siting at the bottom of an Antarctic ravine.

 

"Well." Jack managed. "That was surprising."


	17. Chapter 17

"You can say that again." Rose agreed. "We had a family..." She trailed off, not sure what to say. Jack nodded.  _I know what you mean._

  


"Hey Jack?"

  


"Yeah?" 

  


"I thought I could figure out my centre from the memories, but I haven't gotten anything. Have you?"

  


"Hang on..." Jack thought about all of the new (old?) memories he and Rose had just gained, and one sentence stood out.

  


_"I just have to be brave, right?"_

  


"Brave..." Jack muttered aloud, before realization swept over him. " Brave! That's it! You're the Guardian of Bravery, Rose!"

  


"Really? But I'm not brave, Jack..."

  


"Of course you are!" He snorted. "You were the one who jumped in after me, remember! I just fell in, but you, you followed me in. No wonder you're the Guardian of Bravery!"

  


Rose grinned, and lifted her head proudly, before noticing Jack's broken staff and deflating slightly. "You reckon you can fix that?" She asked. Jack nodded firmly. "Not a problem."

  


Jack stood up and grabbed the two pieces, placing them together carefully so the staff looked whole for a second, closing his eyes as he did so. His face tightened as he tried to channel his powers into the wood, but nothing happened. His hands slid together in disapointment, and the two halves fell apart again. 

  


Rose stood up and walked over to him, stepping behind and wrapping her arms around him. She closed her eyes too, channeling her power through Jack and into the staff. This time it worked, and Jack's eyes shot open as he felt the wood mending under his fingers, until in a blaze of light, the wood was whole, gleaming as if it was brand new.

  


With a whoop of joy, Jack shot into the sky, towing Rose behind him. "Thanks sis, I owe you one!"

  


Soon enough they were back in Pitch's lair, and Jack, at Rose's insistance, had opened the cage doors to let the mini-fairies out.

  


"Come on!" Jack yelled, urging them out. "What are you waiting for?"

  


The fairies didn't move, they just sat on the pirches and twittered at him. "Maybe they can't fly?" Rose suggested, biting her lip. Jack nodded and left the cage open so they could leave whenever they wished. He moved to leave, but a flash of light caught his eye.

  


"Hey, what's that?" they ran over to a small globe - Jack's height, with gaps in the metal where the oceans would be. it was covered in golden dots, and it reminded Jack strongly of North's globe. Clearly this was Pitch's way to watch the belief of the world. 

  


As they watched, the handful of lights left on the globe-Rose had no idea why the Guardians hadn't noticed it getting so bad- started to flicker out, one by one. Jack and Rose unconsiously held their breath when only one light was left, but to their astonishment, it didn't die. 

  


"Jamie!" They both breathed. It had to be! He was the most motivated child either of the spirits had met in a long while. Jack tore his eyes away from the globe after a long moment, as though the light would die if he didn't stare at it with all his might. 

  


"Okay Rose, you might wanna call Krystal, Lily, Jasmine and Scarlett. I think Pitch's is gonna go after Jamie, and we'll need some help. I'll get us there!"

  


Rose nodded and dug the comm pebble out of Jack's pocket, before tapping a complicated pattern onto the back of it, so the iced patterns on the back lit up slightly. "Calling all Seasonals!"

  


"I'm here, Rosie, what's up?" Came the calm and collected voice of Krystal.

  


"This better be good, midget, I was asleep ya know!" Came Scarlett's voice. Scarlett was a very rebelious Summer spirit, with an over-the-top British accent that made Krystal laugh whenever the two met.

  


"Hi Rose! I haven't heard from you in ages! I'm sorry, Jasmine is super busy right now, and she can't come to help, but I'm here, and I can help, and-"

  


"Breathe, Lily!" Krystal said, and they all laughed. Lily reminded Rose a lot of a squirrel, all twitching hyperactivity and chatter. 

  


"Jack and I need your help, you guys." Rose anounced, and Krystal and Scarlett immediately stopped bickering. "Pitch is trying to attack children this time, and the Guardians can't stop him."

  


"Where are you?" Krystal was all business. Children were extremely important after all.

  


"We're on our way to Burguess, America. Going to Jamie and Sophie Bennett's house. Meet you there?"

  


"On my way!" Scarlett agreed, and signed off. Krystal and Lily agreed too, leaving Jack and rose alone once more. 

  


"I hope they'll be able to help." Rose muttered anxiously. Jack shrugged slightly. "They'll be fine. They've been spirits a lot longer than us, after all." Rose nodded and they flew in silence.

  


Soon enough, they had reached Jamie's room, and Rose slipped inside in time to hear Jamie say, talking to a stuffed rabbit, "Okay look, you and I are obviously at what they call a crossroads, so here’s what’s gonna happen; If it wasn’t a dream and if you are real, then you have to prove it. Like, right now."

 

Jack had joined her by this point, and they both stood helplessly in the room, watching Jamie talk to his rabbit. he continued, unaware of his audience, slightly desperate now, "I've believed in you for a long time, okay? My whole life, in fact. So, you kinda owe me now."

 

Rose stepped forward, but Jack pulled her back, hating himself for it, but knowing they couldn't force the boy to believe in them. Instead he pulled her into a hug, trying to block out the world for her.

  


"You don't have to do much," Jamie urged, seriously desperate by this point, "Just a sign so I know. Anything. Anything at all."

  


Nothing happened, and Jamie dropped the rabbit in disappointment. "I knew it." He whispered.


	18. Chapter 18

Rose let out a little choked sob, and Jack shook his head slightly. Leaning forwards, he pushed the window open, sliding inside and pulling Rose inside after him. Whispering his plan to her(even though Jamie couldn't hear them, whispering seemed so spy-like), Rose grinned and nodded.

  


Hearing a noise, Jamie spun around. The window - which he could have sworn he had shut an hour ago - was open, and frost was spreading much too rapidly across the opposite panes. As He watched in amazement, finger-drawings began to appear on these frost panes. On the higher pane, an intricate design of a bunny rabbit appeared, while on the lower pane, a less detailed drawing on an egg appeared. The significance was not lost on Jamie. "He's real!" He breathed.

  


Encouraged, Jack concentrated with all of his might and, breathing out his magic, brought the rabbit to life. Jamie watched in fascination as the rabbit on the window shivered slightly before peeling off the glass and becoming fully three-dimensional. After a pause, the egg wobbled and almost fell out of the pane it resided on. Jamie stared at the now-legged egg toddling across his floor, and almost missed the rabbit flying around his ceiling before exploding into white fluffy flakes of snow.

  


"Wha-? Snow?" He murmured to himself. Turning around slowly, his eyes widen when they spot two children, standing in his room watching the snow. Neither of them noticed him yet. "Jack... and Rose Frost." He murmured quietly. Rose's sharp ears caught her name however and she spun around.

  


"Did he just say...?"

  


"He did!" Jack grinned infectiously, jumping up onto Jamie's desk in one bound.

  


"You said our names!" Rose accuses happily.

  


"Rose Frost." Jamie agreed dumbly. Rose stared at him in amazement. "But, that's my name! You said my name!"

  


Jamie nodded. Jack blinked. "Wait, can you hear us?" More nods. "Can you see us?" More nods.

  


Rose squealed in delight, and the amount of snow in the room tripled. Rose spun around to meet Jamie's eyes, and Jamie blushed slightly. She was very pretty. Whithout meaning to, Jamie blurted out, "You're really pretty Rose."

  


"R-really?" Now Rose was blushing too. Jack ruthlessly quashed the grin threatening to break out. They were so cute together! Rose broke the moment by turning to Jack and saying excitedly, "Jack! He can see us! Isn't this cool!"

  


"Yeah!" Jack grinned, turning to Jamie, who had finally reclaimed control of his hanging jaw. Jamie shook his head slightly. "You made it snow!"

  


"I know!" Jack and Rose intoned in unison.

  


"In my room!"

  


"I know!" They agreed again.

  


"You-you're both real?"

  


"Uh-huh!" They nodded. "Remember the sled ride? and the sofa? That was us! And the snow on Easter, and the snowball fights? Us, all us!"

  


Jamie stared in amazement. They had managed to say that entire speech in complete unison. "Well, that's slightly creepy. How do you DO that?"

  


"Magic." They grinned at him, and Jamie opened his mouth to ask another question when a voice echoed from the hall. "Jamie, who are you talking to?"

  


Jamie froze and spun around in a panic, but Jack just smiled and gestured to himself and Rose. Jamie blinked before saying cautiously, "Um... Jack and Rose Frost?"

  


"Okay!" The voice, presumably Jamie's mum, agreed, and Jamie breathed a sigh of relief, before spinning around and jumping off his bed, landing squarely on Jack's chest like a monkey. "I'm so glad you're real!" he announced to Jack's hoodie, where his face was squashed into. Jack just nodded mutely, still reeling from his first human hug.

  


Suddenly, a nightmare flashed past Jamie's bedroom window. Rose yelled out a warning. "Jack! The nightmares are back!"

  


Jack turned to Jamie and said seriously, "I want you to grab your shoes, and run outside. We need you to be safe, and we have some friends coming that will do that, okay?"

  


Jamie nodded and ran out of the room, still in his pajamas, Rose noted with amusement. Jack grabbed Rose and tugged her outside, a frown on his face. They were just in time to see the sleigh crash land. As they arrived alongside it, Tooth tried to fly out to see them. "Rose! Jack!" halfway there, her wings faltered and she collapsed to the ground. Rose ran to hug her, while Jack turned to North. "What's happening?"

  


"Is official. Our powers are Kaput. Why are you and Rose still standing, huh?"

  


"Um... because we didn't have any believers to lose, I guess?" Jack returned, rubbing his neck self-consciously. Just then Jamie ran out of the house, still in pajamas, stopping suddenly when he noticed the spirits parked outside his house. "You're real! I mean, it's you! I knew it wasn't a dream!" He announced proudly, turning to look at Rose who hugged him happily.

  


"Rose! He sees you!" North announced in amazement. Rose grinned proudly. "Yep! And Jack, too!" Jack nodded, before a shadow crossed his face. "Wait. Where's Bunny?"

  


North sighed heavily. "Losing Easter took it's toll on all of us. Bunny most of all."

  


"Oh no." Rose murmured as she turned to see Bunny, shrunk down to normal-sized rabbits, hop out of the sleigh. Jamie walked forwards, giggling slightly. "That's the Easter Bunny?"

  


"Now somebody sees me! I mean, where were ya about an hour ago, mate?" Bunny folded his paws and glared at Jamie, but Jamie wasn't phased. He turned to North. "What happened to him? He used to be huge and cool! And now he's cute." 

  


With a grin, Rose stepped forwards, and started tickling Bunny under the chin.

  


"Oh, that's good." Bunny leaned into the fingers as his foot started thumping involuntarily, before he realized what was happening and batted Rose and Jamie's hands away. he turned to glare at Jack. "You put these bloody ankle-biters onto me, didn'tcha? That's it, let's go, me and you!"

  


"No," Jamie gently pushed the miniaturized Pooka away from Jack. "Actually, he told me you were real. Just when I started to think, maybe you weren't."

  


Bunny stopped. "Really?" he asked in a pathetic voice. "He made you believe? In me?"

  


"Really." Jamie nodded, standing up, but, before he could say anything else, Pitch appeared, standing upon a cloud of sand. Rose opened her mouth, about to say something, when a high-pitched yell echoed through the air. Rose looked at Jack, a smile twitching on her mouth. "That's who I think it is, isn't it?"

  


"Oh yeah." Jack is full out grinning at this point, while the Guardians are still clueless. "Who? Who is dat?" North tried to ask, but Rose and Jack both shush him. The yell got louder until it convalesced into words, echoing though the town. "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!"

  


"Only Krystal." Jack and Rose muttered in unison. With a flash of blue light, Krystal somersaulted out of her cloud, and landed in the gymnasts Y in front of Jack and Rose. Rose immediately burst into applause. Jack just grinned. "I give you... 10 for style, but only 7 for performance. That landing was a bit sloppy, you know."

  


"Aww, come on Jack! That's soooo not fair!" Krystal whined good-naturedly, causing Bunny to start at their similar accents. Before he could say anything, there was a blaze of light further away, and three girls came to meet the group. Rose ran over excitedly, then visibly pulled herself back and shook the girls' hands, before spinning around and giving Krystal a big hug to compensate. Tooth laughed slightly, before she leaned in to Jack's ear and whispered, "Why'd she do that? And who are they, anyway?"

  


Jack laughed as well, before he whispered back, "The last time he hugged them, they were frozen in a block of ice. She's not good at controlling her powers yet. And introductions, of course!"

  


Jack beckoned the girls over and lightly hugged all three, before he gave Krystal a tighter hug. Then he spun around to face the amazed Guardians. "Okay, introductions. Guys, these are the Guardians, you know them. Guardians, these are the Seasonals. "We are a large majority of all the Seasonal spirits, hence the name. This;" he waved a hand at Krystal, who was nearest, "Is Krystal Grace, she is the South Hemisphere Winter spirit, and she kinda works for me and Rose."

  


Krystal stuck her tongue out at him, but didn't refute the fact. Jack continued. These'" he waved a hand at the two brunette girls in green standing next to each other, "Are Lily Emerald and Jasmine Pine. They are the South and North Hemisphere Spring spirits, and they are good friends. And this," He waved his hand vaguely in the direction of Scarlett," Is Scarlett Ash, and she's the North Hemisphere Summer spirit, and for some reason everyone we meet assume we are gonna be arch-nemesises. We're not, by the way! They're our friends, and we asked them here so they could help us fight Pitch. Any questions?"

  


Scarlett raised one manicured hand. "What are we standing around here for? Let's kick some nightmare butt!"

  


_Oh yeah, Pitch won't know what hit him._ Jack thought smugly. Rose nodded her head, grinning like a loon.  _Agreed._


	19. Chapter 19

"Okay, Krystal, I think Pitch's sand might interfere with your clouds, and I don't want you dropping out of the sky, so you're on ground patrol with Lily, Jasmine, Bunny and North. Tooth, if you can fly, you're with me and Rose, plus Scarlett if she can - Scarlett? How's your Fire Flight going?"

  


"Well Enough." She shrugged, before concentrating hard and causing bright streams of flame to streak out of her hands and feet like a rocket, lifting her unsteadily into the air. Jack looked at her askance for a second, before shrugging and turning away. We only have to point her at Pitch and run away, right?

  


Sure. Rose shrugged, knowing Jack would never run away from a fight if he could possibly do so. The two teams split up, Jamie following Bunny down an alleyway along with Lily, Jasmine, Krystal, and Tooth, who's wings still weren't working. Meanwhile, Jack Rose and Scarlett shot into the sky, Pitch's taunt ringing in their ears. "So, Jack? Brought your wimpy friends and your pathetic sister to play, huh? I bet they won't last long enough for me to have a little fun!"

  


Why you-" Jack was cut off by a furious Scarlett, whose anger had fed her flames until they were too bright to look at. "WIMPY! I'LL SHOW YOU WIMPY, YOU ALBINO GOTHIC FREAK!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Scarlett raised one glowing hand and shot a burst of flame, so hot that Jack actually had to cringe away as it passed him, which impacted Pitch's sand-shield, and pelted the sand particles together. Pitch cursed as he started to fall, but Jack and Rose didn't notice, being too busy catching Scarlett, who had sagged suddenly from the unexpected power boost. Jack caught her, but she was too heavy for him to hold so they crashed onto a bin before bouncing off and landing painfully on the ground.

  


"Ow... Rose, you okay?" Jack muttered as he pulled himself up, just before North and the others ran over, Jamie yelling "Jack! Rose!"

  


"Mfine." She muttered, before hoping up and shaking Scarlett by the shoulder. "Hey, Ashie, You okay?"

  


"Don' call me that!" Scarlett groaned, before sitting up and looking around. "Wow, who got the number of that plane?"

  


"A08F4-" Rose started, a smirk on her face, but she quickly shut up when Scarlett gave her a glare. She looked at Jack. "What happened?"

  


"You used your powers while in an extreme of an emotion. I did it a few days ago, and it wasn't pretty. Are you sure you're alright?"

  


"Yeah, yeah." Scarlett brushed off his helpful hand as she stood up, before smirking slightly, as Pitch, looking worse for wear, entered the alley, riding a nightmare.

  


"All this fuss over one little boy, and still he refuses to stop believing." Pitch mused, grinning evilly. Immediately the Seasonals gathered in front of Jamie, blocking him from Pitch's view, while behind the teenagers, Rose gave poor Jamie a comforting hug. Pitch shrugged carelessly.

  


"Very well. There are other ways to snuff out a light."

  


Jamie twitched slightly, but Rose hugged him tightly, blocking out the menacing figure of Pitch behind her. As Pitch's shadows spread out, Jamie looked up and said, voice shaking slightly, "Jack? Rose? I'm scared."

  


Jack jumped slightly, before sharing a look with Rose. "I know, but we're gonna have some fun instead."

  


"You just gotta be brave, Jamie!" Rose finished, giving him a smile. Jamie nodded nervously, stiffening his spine as Jack and Rose slipped away, leaving Pitch free to approach.

  


"So, what do you think, Jamie?" Pitch asked, smiling victoriously. He didn't notice the amused glances the Seasonals - and Tooth - were sharing. They knew something good was coming. 

  


"Do you believe in the Boogeyma-oofh" Pitch's head was knocked back at two snowballs his head face at the same time from different directions. The Seasonals shared one glance and let rip, laughing their heads off. Jamie and North let startled laughs loose, as though they didn't know they were going to, while Jack and Krystal quickly froze a path through the nightmares, causing them to run away, before grabbing a pile of old sleds, giant woks, and assorted sledding equipment, before shooting off just at Pitch wiped the magical snow from his eyes.

  


"Now, lets grab your friends, huh?" Krystal yelled at Jamie, sliding along the ice as though it were a waterslide, just like Jack and Rose. Jack grinned at her. "You just read my mind, Kryssie."

  


"DON'T call me that, and you betcha I did!" She grinned. 

  


Jack towed the group through the town, somehow managing to pick up all of Jamie's friends along the way, and getting them to believe in him at the same time? Jamie had no idea. Anyway, the large group of giggling spirits and people stopped suddenly at the outskirts of town, where Pitch stood, restored, with his army of Nightmares behind him.

  


"You still think a few children can help? Against this?" He called down. Krystal flipped him the finger. "Fu-.. dge off, you old dick!" She called up to him. Pitch blinked, startled, while the Guardians practically cringed at the use of foul language. Jamie and the Burgess kids started grinning cautiously, while the Seasonals were almost wetting themselves laughing. Pitch scowled. "Stop it!" He snapped. 

  


Of course, this only encouraged them. Jamie noticed out of the corner of his eyes, that the nightmares seemed to be cringing away from the laughing teens, and an idea came to him. 

  


"So, Still think there's no such thing as the Boogeyman? Your spirit friends may protect you, Jamie, but who will protect them?"

  


"I will!" He snapped, stepping forwards, before stopping as he felt Rose's hand on his wrist. "You don't have to do this." She whispered.

  


"Yes I do." He told her, and she let his wrist go.

  


"I will."

  


"I will." "I will."

  


"Me too."

  


"I'll try."

  


Jamie's friends stepped forwards, one by one, giving their pledges. Jamie saw Pitch's smile slip further and further as each child stepped forwards. Finally he snapped, "Well then, protect them from THIS!" And thrust a giant wave of darkness at them.

  


Jamie stood tall. "I believe in you, I'm just not afraid of you." As the sand swooped forwards, Jamie stuck out his hand, and as soon as the sand hit his hand, (A/N: Haha no pun intended) there was a flash of light, and the nightmare sand hand been transformed into golden dreamsand. Rose gasped and grabbed Jack's leg.  _Jack! Sandy! Do you think he'd be able to..._

  


_I sure hope so, Rosie_ . Jack reached out to a nightmare strand, and was gratified when it transformed for him also. he called to the Seasonals.

  


"Guys, try it! I guess we also count as kids, because we never grew up... anyway, it'll work for us too! Come on, Rosie!"

  


Soon the Seasonals and the Burgess Kids were running all over the place, touching all the sand they could find. Pitch merely snarled and sent another wave. 

  


Tooth's wings began working, and North's energy returned. Jack vaguely saw Bunny dive under a car and be towed out as his 6 foot self, but he was too busy freezing Nightmares with Rose. 

  


Out of the corner of one eye, he could see Krystal and Scarlett taking turns to freeze and burn the same nightmare until it simply fell apart from the temperature strains, and out the corner of the other, Lily was sweet-talking tree roots out of the ground to trip up the nightmares while Jasmine pulled out her Scimitar and went to work hacking Nightmare heads off. Jack winced. for such a sweet girl, she seemed to have a lot of anger management problems.

  


North's cavalry seem to have arrived, and the kids are all eagerly jumping on the actual nightmares to dreamsand as well, now.

  


Jack looks at the surrounding madness with a smile, before he noticed Pitch sneaking off. _Oh no, we are ending this tonight_ . Jack thought. 


	20. Chapter 20

Jack shot upwards, grabbing Rose as she followed, and they landed on a roof, spotting Pitch sitting on his Nightmare, overlooking the battle. Children charged a nightmare, hugging it and forcing it back into it baser form of Dreamsand. Elves attacked the nightmares, banging their heads against the hooves or trying to eat the knees.

  


Rose landed on the rooftop silently, an arrow already notched. with a wink, she let it fly, the tip of the arrrowhead silenty nicking Pitch's ear.

  


"YEOW!" Pitch yelped girlishly, before spinning round and spotting Rose. "Why you little brat! I'm gonna-"

  


"You know what, Pitch?" Pitch spun around, spotting Jack, sitting on the head of his Nightmare, no longer smiling. 

  


"What?" Pitch found himself asking.

  


"When you ask a spirit-most any spirit will do-what happens when you threaten Jack Frost's baby sister, do you know what they say?" Jack's eyes were blue slivers of ice in his pale face. If Pitch could step backwards, he would have. "N-no."

  


"They say 'don't do it. Jack Frost will kill anyone who hurts his sister.' Now you're about to find out the truth."

  


Jack leaned forwards, intimidating Pitch even further, before he grinned, and yelled, "GET HIM, GIRLS!"

  


Pitch spun around, noting with horror the amount of weapons aimed at him in a split-second, before he leaned forwards, lanching himself(and his Nightmare) off the building, just in time to miss two ice blasts, a tongue of flame, two arrows in quick succecion, and a prickly vine.

  


With a nod to the girls, Jack grabbed Rose, Krystal grabbed Lily, and Scarlett grabbed Jasmine, before all six followed the fleeing Nightmare King, the Guardians and children stopping and watching this epic massacre in awe. 

  


The seasonals were relentless, they blasted, shot, fired and thwacked again and again, battering Pitch more and more. After a well placed shot dissolved the Nightmare underneath him, Pitch fell to the ground in an alley, looking at the spirits surrounding him in undisgused terror and hatred.

  


"Give up, Pitch! There's nowhere to hide." Jack stated strongly, stepping forwards flanked by Krystal and Scarlett. Rose smirked at him. "Yeah, Jack kicked your butt!"

  


Pitch's look of fear suddenly morphed into a look of victory, and he smirked, sinking into a shadow and spreading across the walls. "There are always places to hide..."

  


Without warning, Pitch formed again, holding a giant sand axe, poised to hit Rose. Jack spun around, his eyes widening in horror.

  


"Rose, look out!" He launched forwards, and pushed Rose out of the way, before flinching, explecting an attack any second.

  


Just then, a sand stream, wonderfully, beautifully gold, shot from behind Pitch, grabbing him by the arm. Everyone's eyes widened, before Pitch was unduly yanking backwards, out of sight. Jack, grabbing Rose, gave a giant leap, landing on top of the abandoned school bus in time to see Sandy, fully formed, leap out of the sand cloud, and give Pitch the most impressive punch either of the ice spirits had ever seen. 

  


With a sob, Rose raced forwards, smacking into Sandy with an almost audible 'thud' and clinging to the surprised dreammaker tightly as she burst into tears.

  


Jack walked forwards and patted Sandy on the shoulder. "Glad you're back." Was all he said, but Sandy understood. 

  


Jack pulled Rose away, letting the Guardians say hi to Sandy, before he walked over to the other Seasonals, who... were looking surprisingly shifty.

  


"What's going on, you guys?" Jack's tone was deceptively light, but all the other teens flinched guiltily and looked away. Scarlett stepped forwards. "You two aren't gonna abandon us over the Guardians" She practically spat the name, "Are ya?"

  


"What? The Guardians? Why would we?" Jack was faaaaaar too confused.

  


"It's obvious that their gonna ask you to join." Lily spoke up. "North was practically drooling when he watched us fight before, but you guys were the only Moon-made spirits among us, and everyone knows that only moon-spirits are Guardians."

  


"Yeah, okay fine." Jack couldn't believe he was hearing this. "So what if they ask us to be Guardians? So what if we say yes? Why the HELL would that make you think we'd ignore you? After that happening to us almost every day of our lives? Do-"

  


"I'm really sorry about that, by the way." A timid voice spoke up. Rose turned around, her brother too busy giving the other Seasonals a good talking-to to notice. Serves them right, in Rose's opinion. As if they'd ever be capable of abandonment!

  


"It's okay." She smiled at Jamie. "You didn't know about us, so how could you know to believe? Or even try to believe?" Jamie nodded, but his expression was still downcast.

  


"Still... that must of hurt a lot."

  


Rose rolled her eyes. "I told you, it's okay." Then, to the shock of Jamie, She leaned forwards and kissed him on the cheek. Jamie blushed furiously.

  


The seasonals, who had been watching from a distance, all suppressed coos-even Jack. They were so utterly sweet together...

  


A light caught their attention, and everyone watched as Sandy rose into the sky, Dreamsand beams bursting out of him and filling the sky with impossible shapes.

  


Jack snuck a wink at Rose, and nodded to Jamie, who, while his cheeks were still slightly pink, was watching the dreamsand animals, a look of wonder on his face. Jack picked up a lump of snow, and Rose grinned. 

  


His snowball hit Jamie in the back. Jamie spun around, and for him to actually see Jack? That meant everything in the world. Jamie grinned and flung a snowball at Monty, knocking him off his feet, and prompting and all out war, the Seasonals joining in too, thrilled at playing with so many kids who could see them.

  


Jack and Rose turned around slightly as North came up to them, smiling widely. He gestured to the fun around them and nodded at Jack. "Your centre?"

  


"Took me a while, but Rose helped me figure it out." He nodded. North looked at Rose. "Ah, yes, centre is Bravery, no?" He smirked at their flabbergasted looks. "You two and Tooth not the only ones with eyes, you know."

  


Jack nodded, smiling at the same time. North frowned, about to ask, when a snowball hit the side of his face. He spun around, and saw, Rose, who smiled and threw another one right into his eyes before running off.

  


North grinned. "Hey Bunny, think fast!" He bellowed, knocking the Pooka over with one well placed shot before running to join the fun. 


	21. Chapter 21

Pitch looked around him in undisguised horror and anger. Laughing children, yetis, tooth fairies, sand creatures and elves surrounded him. He scowled when he noticed the two insufferable Frost kids and their friends start a snowball fight. He swooped towards the Frost girl's crush. 

  


"You DARE have fun in my presence? I AM THE BOOGEYMAN! And you WILL fear me!" He snapped, but without looking at him the Bennet kid ran away from a snowball, and right through his midriff. Pitch gasped, clutching his chest. No... Not again...

  


He spun around and saw satisfaction on all of the Guardians faces, but... the Frost children, they weren't gloating. They looked almost... sympathetic? Pitch didn't have time to ponder it, because the Pooka stepped forwards, and, almost tripping on his cloak, Pitch ran for it. Across the street, down the hill, he ran, looking back as he did so until, whilst crossing a large icy lake, he ran into North's large, solid belly and was knocked backwards. "Leaving the party so soon?" The Russian smirked down at him.

  


The fairy, Tooth, swooped forwards. "You didn't even say goodbye." She flicked him something shiny he caught on instinct. He stared at the shiny coin in his palm, puzzled, before he looked up at the fairy in confusion. "A quarter?"

  


With a flash of feathers and pain, Tooth punched him in the face, sending a single tooth flying. Pitch felt his mouth as he struggled into a seating position, blinking slightly. "And that's for my fairies." Tooth panted, shaking her hand slightly.

  


"You can't get rid of me!" Pitch snapped, standing tall. "Not forever! There will will always be fear."

  


"As long as we're always here to fight you, it doesn't matter." The Frost girl spoke up, her brother and the other teenagers standing behind her supportively. The Guardians all looked suprised by her insight, but Pitch waved it off. "Then what are they doing here?" he smirked, pointing to the Nightmares that ringed the canyon walls. North looked around, but he was unphased.

  


"They can't be my Nightmares, I'm not afraid." He pointed out logically. Pitch's face paled. The Frost boy stepped forwards, face alight, but his sister tugged on his sleeve, and when their eyes connected, Jack's face slackened, but he nodded. He looked up at Pitch, the same sympathy in his eyes. "I think they're yours." he said quietly.

  


Pitch froze, noticing as he did so that his link to his Nightmares had tarnished as he had been speaking. how had he not noticed?! Without a word he spun around and ran, but the Nightmares sprang, covalencensing into a ball of sand that enveloped him like a cloud and swept him up and down into his former lair, screaming all the while.

  


Jack and Rose look away from the pitiful slight to see North beaming at them with something akin to pride. Tooth swooped in and gave them both a big hug. "Oh my gosh, I am soo proud of both of you!"

  


"Thanks... Mum." Jack whispered. Tooth drew back slightly in shock, smiling brightly, Allowing baby Tooth to come flying in and try to nuzzle Jack's face. jack rubbed her head feathers lightly, which seemed to please the little fairy imensely. Rose snorted. That fairy had it BAD.

  


Norht stepped forwards, breaking up the moment by clearing his throat. "Are you ready now, Jack, Rose? To make it official?" He added, smiling slightly. 

  


"This is time you take oath. Eldest first, sorry Rose." Rose shrugged and smiled, and Jack stepped forwards, smiling brightly.

  


"Will you, Jack Frost, vow to watch over and protect the children of the world? To guard them with your life - their hopes, their wishes and their dreams? For they are all that we have, All that we are, and all that we will ever be."

  


Jack looked around him, at the Guardians proud faces, at the Seasonals excited motions of 'go for it!', and at Rose and Jamie, standing side by side, smiling at him. He turned back to North, and said clearly, "I will."

  


North grinned broadly, and said, Then congratulations, Jack Frost - for you are now and forevermore...a Guardian. Rose's turn!"

 

Rose stepped forwards, and North repeated the process. "I will." Rose stated without a second thought, and North grinned, sweeping jack and Rose into big hugs. Rose swore she felt a rib crack.

 

Rose looked over, and snorted, catching the Seasonals and Jack's attention. One of North's elves had given another a kiss, so the kissed elf punched the kissing elf in the face. "maybe you could keep it and train it as a ninja, Rosie." Jack suggested through gales of laughter. The other Seasonals were no better.

 

 

The shouting of the kids caught their attention, and they saw North's sleigh come gliding in, before Sandy shot up a shower of dreamsand fireworks to distract the children. Bunny and the other Guardians said their goodbyes, but just as Rose was about to climb about the sleigh, Jamie ran up, frowning slightly.

 

"You’re leaving? But, what if Pitch comes back? What if we stop believing again? If I can't see you-"

 

Rose leaned forwardds and lightly kissed Jamie's cheek to shut him up. In the background, all of Tooth's fairies fainted(Tooth looked pretty close to fainting too), Bunny handed a grinning North a sack of gold, and Jack simply beamed.

 

"Jamie, do you stop believing in the day when night comes? Or stop believing in the sun when it's snowing? We'll always be here, Jamie. All you have to do is ask." This time, Jamie leaned forwards and kissed Rose, on the lips this time, both of them blushing, before he turned around and ran back to his friends, while a still pink Rose boarded the sleigh. 

 

"Not one word." She warned the smiling Jack, but he zipped his lips, still grinning. Rose sat next to jack, and absentmindedly sent Jamie an unmelting snowflake. She looked around at the sleigh, which was somehow carrying all the Guardians and Seasonals, and smiled. Finally, She and Jack weren't alone anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter was basically paraphrased from Therosebaron's oneshot Down Together on FFN, where I started this story. I thought it was a brilliant idea, and worked on expanding it into a fully fleged story.


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